Cyber Scouts: Prophecy Saga
by Mysterious Voice Guy
Summary: Sequel series to the original CYBER SCOUTS saga begins here. Join Jason, Zack, Kevin, and the outer rim Scouts on a perilous quest for the seven CyberShadow crystals.
1. Default Chapter Title

Cyber Scouts, Prophecy Saga: Part 1  
A New Journey  
  
By Ryan Edgerton, author of TEAM REVELATION and CARDCAPTORS: the Realm series.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the Sailor Moon TV show- Serena/Sailor Moon, Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei(sorry if that's not the correct spelling)/Sailor Mars, Lita/Sailor Mercury, Mina/Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Molly, Melvin, and anybody else I forgot to mention. The ArchAngel Shiro belongs to Eternal Studios and the ArchAngels: The Saga comics series. I'll make a list of the characters I do own at the end of the fic.  
  
Chapter 1- Battle Rekindled  
  
Jason stood on a high precipice, overlooking the mighty Amazon rainforest below. He looked out as the fiery sun sunk low to the horizon, it's golden glow filling the skies with a thousand colors. His sword sheathed at his side and a backpack slung over his back, he couldn't help but be awestruck by the sight. A large river snaked off from below the cliff he stood on, and it disappeared off onto the far-off horizon. He'd been traveling amongst these ancient forests and woodlands for at least two weeks now, and he somehow knew he was getting closer to what he sought. One of the seven CyberShadow Crystals was nearby, he could feel it.  
Even while his mind took in all the majesty and wonder of his surroundings, his thoughts were on only one person...  
"I'll come back for you, Mina." He told himself. "That's a promise..."  
  
Elsewhere in the lush, green rainforests, a predator from another universe cautiously stalked it's prey. It's deep-green crystalline body, spider-like legs, vampire-like teeth, and four three-fingered claw hands gave it the look of something out of a Vector-man game, and the creature's body glowed with a black energy field. It was hungry, hungry for blood, and it wouldn't stop until it caught it's prey. First it would feast, then it would locate what it had been sent for...  
... the CyberShadow Crystal fragment.  
Once it's prey was out of the way, it would be easy to locate the crystal. That would please masters Azurite and Alexis, yes, it would please them very much. For now, though, it followed at a distance. Once it's prey found the crystal, it would be easy to kill the human off in secret, like a sniper, then take the crystal as it's prize. Yes, the masters would be pleased.  
  
In Tokyo...  
"Whaa... what the-!" Sailor Uranus exclaimed as she, Neptune, and Saturn dropped out of a swirling white vortex onto a high rooftop. Sailors Pluto and Nebula were there to meet them, and Uranus instantly got back to her feet ant turned to them for answers. "What's going on here? Where are we?? And what do you two have to do with this???"  
"...I don't believe it..." Neptune exclaimed as she and Saturn got back to their feet. "We're in the past!"  
"You're responsible for this, aren't you??" Uranus accused, glaring at Nebula and Pluto. "Only you two have the kind of power needed for time travel. Why are we here??"  
"Would you chill your jets, Uranus?" Nebula inquired, trying to keep a calm air about her. "You're being here was indeed our work, but we have good reason."  
"Like what?! What could be important enough to pull us away from protecting Neo Queen Serenity and the rest of planet earth??"  
"...Wait!" Saturn suddenly spoke up, looking off into the city with a strange look in her eyes. "... I... I'm feeling... something strange... it's like time is... out of balance with itself... I... I've never felt anything like this before..."  
"Quite true, Saturn." Pluto stated, joining at her side at the edge of the building. "There *is* imbalance."  
"Why?" Neptune inquired. "The only time things are out of balance is if the Negaverse is at work."  
"Is that why you brought us to the past? The Negaforce is up to something?" Uranus inquired.  
"Close enough." Nebula replied casually, then grew serious. "The reason there is imbalance is because of the Cyber and Darkshadow Crystals."  
"But they were destroyed a long-" She cut herself off, remembering when in time she was. "Great, just great. Let me guess: we're in the middle of the Cyber Crystal crisis, aren't we?"  
"Very good, Uranus, very good. Since you figured that out so easily, you should also be able to figure out why we've called you here."  
"Don't get coy with me; I'm annoyed enough with you as is." Uranus fumed. "And yes, I can figure out why you brought us here; I'm not an idiot, like you are."  
Nebula gave her an annoyed look, but Uranus didn't miss a beat.  
"You want us to help the Cyber Scouts rescue the CyberShadow Crystals, don't you?" She inquired, then sighed, annoyed, and muttered to herself. "Great, just what I needed today. Now I'm on a mission with 'the three Bible-teers'. This is not my day."  
"Quit complaining; if you don't help them,-" Nebula started, but Uranus cut her off.  
"You don't need to remind me of my duty as a Sailor Scout, Nebula. I'm not exactly buddy-buddy with you either." She stated, then sighed again. "OK, where are we and how do we get there?"  
Nebula held out her staff.  
"You know how it works." She stated. Uranus sighed.  
"What's my destination?" She inquired.  
"The Amazon, where Sailor Genesis is questing after one of the crystals." She turned to the other two outer rim Scouts. "Neptune, your destination is Egypt to help Sailor Exodus, and Saturn, your destination is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to help Sailor Apocalypse. Good luck to each of you."  
"A dry, waterless desert." Neptune mused. "Not my idea of an ideal travel destination."  
"If anyone can do it, you can." Uranus stated, a look of sisterly admiration in her eye as she put her hand on Neptune's shoulder reassuringly.  
"Thanks." She said back.  
"Um, hate to interrupt," Nebula interjected. "But if you two are done wishing each other goodbye, then you need to get going."  
Uranus gave Nebula a look that could melt granite.  
"Fine, let's get this over with." Uranus grumbled, touching the staff. She vanished in a flash of light, an annoyed glare still on her face.  
  
Invisible to the Scouts, most of them anyway, Zetax and his bodyguards looked on from a nearby rooftop as the three Scouts one by one vanished off to their various assignments. He cussed under his breath, then turned to his commanders with an annoyed look obvious in his eyes.  
"You three, find them and follow them. The rest of you, go, gather our forces. Soon enough, our time to attack and destroy will be at hand."  
The demons laughed and wheezed in anticipation, flying off in a dozen different directions. Zetax, however, stayed. He could see that those Sailor Scouts were not alone in their meeting. Invisible to all but Nebula, a small army of ArchAngels, Seti and Shiro amongst them, stood sentry around the two remaining Scouts, swords drawn and all the angels were ready and alert. Under normal circumstances, he'd dare not get this close to such an army of the hosts of heaven, but today he dared. He dared because even they knew that neither force could be removed or destroyed until the prophecy ran it's course.  
  
Chapter 2- Forces Collide  
  
Jason knew he was getting close to the first crystal. Something in him, something he couldn't explain, seemed to point him like a compass towards a certain direction. He knew the CyberShadow Crystal he sought must be in that direction. He didn't even know how he knew, just that he did know. The forests were like a maze all around him; vines grew out left and right, the air hummed with invisible mosquitoes and other bugs, somewhere, far off, a kind of bird Jason didn't recognize let out it's strange song, and the ground was littered with decayed leaves, fruits, fallen trees, and who knows what else. Using his sword as a machete, Jason hacked away at walls of thick vegetation when he needed to, sweat dripping off his forehead like leaves from a tree during fall.  
" 'We will abandon it all, for the sake of the call'." He mused, remembering a line from one of his favorite songs. "Never thought that would end up sending me to the remotest corners of the earth."  
  
Not far away, as a matter of fact right in the trees over Jason's head, the Negaverse vampire that had been trailing Jason for well over a week suddenly couldn't stand the pangs of hunger it was feeling for a split second later. It bit it's lip, clenched it's four fists, but it could no longer stand being so close but unable to eat it's prey.  
"... Can't... take ... the... hunger! ...Must... feed..."  
It let out a shriek, a bloodcurdling sound like a banshee, then leapt out of the trees down at it's prey, it's eyes locked on Jason's neck.  
  
Jason herd the shriek and spun around just in time to be pinned beneath the fierce creature's eight spider-like legs. It licked it's lips, red saliva dripping out of it's mouth, as it glared at Jason with animalistic hunger. A drop of the red liquid fell onto Jason's shoulder, and immediately he felt it burning his skin like acid. He tried to squirm free, but he was trapped beneath the monster's crushing weight. One of it's four hands clamped down on his neck in a strangle hold. He could barely breathe as the vampire wheezed it's putrid breath in his face.  
"Listen up human and listen well..." It's Transylvanian-voice hissed at him, their faces inches apart. "You're going to tell me where that crystal is and you're going to do it now... or else I *will* FEED!"  
"Get OFF!" He screamed, still thrashing.  
Suddenly, the creature heard something behind it. It turned it's head, and suddenly it was blown clear off of Jason as a large golden dome with a ring around it plowed the monster into the ground a few dozen feet away. Jason quickly got to his feet as a shadowed figure jumped out of the trees and landed in a battle stance a few feet from the vampire. She was tall, wore a Sailor Scout uniform, had short blond hair, and a very boyish figure. Golden energy built on her hands as she prepared for another attack.  
"...Ngh..." The monster groaned, getting back to it's feet. Then it noticed the Sailor Scout in-between Jason and itself. "Well, what have we here? Hahaha; dinner is served!"  
"Dream on." The Scout retorted. "Uranus World Shaker!"  
"Not this time, blondie!" The monster retorted, a beam of red energy blasting out of it's mouth and countering the planet-shaped blast. Uranus dodged, energy building in her hands for another attack. The monster was too quick, though, and easily hit her with a second blast, this time from it's four hands. Uranus hit the ground with a painful gasp, like she'd had the wind knocked out of her. "Hahaha! Now to finish you off!"  
"Not so fast!" Jason exclaimed. The creature spun around to see what he was up to, but suddenly found itself on the other end of another one of Uranus's attacks. It sent the creature into a nearby tree, nearly breaking the tree in half. Jason drew his sword as Uranus got to her feet, but she waved him off.  
"Don't waste your energy; that monster's made of Negaverse crystal, far too hard for a normal sword to cut through." She suddenly held a jewel-encrusted Arabian sword made of gold in her hand. "You'd better let me deal with this."  
"C'mon, you little french fry! Let's see what you got!" The vampire challenged, then let out a blast of red energy from it's upper-left hand.  
"Uranus Space Sword Blaster!" Uranus countered, her sword glowing with energy. She easily deflected the red beam, sending it right back at the vampire. It exploded against the creature, and Uranus followed up with a blast of her own. The monster fell back, fleeing into the trees. "Well, glad that's over with."  
"Who are you?" Jason inquired, rushing over to his rescuer. "Thanks for saving me and all-"  
"Save the chit chat, Jason." Uranus interjected. "Right now, we need to locate that CyberShadow Crystal before 'Dracula' comes back. You do know where it is, don't you?"  
"How do you-?"  
"Long story, I'll tell you on the way." She stated. "Which way to the crystal."  
Jason pointed off into the forest northward.  
"Good; let's go." She started walking off in that direction, then suddenly stopped and looked at Jason over her shoulder. "Oh, and I advise you not to annoy me. I've got a very short fuse today."  
  
"So you're a Sailor Scout from the future?" Jason inquired as they walked, making their way over fallen logs and other debris of the rainforests. Amara nodded a silent 'yes'. "Whoa..."  
"Believe you me, the future's not all it's cracked up to be. The Negaverse is still at large like you wouldn't believe, kid. Then again, you always had an easy time believing the unbelievable."  
"What's that mean?" Jason inquired, a perplexed look on his face.  
"Looks like you're just as clueless in the past as you are in the future." She mumbled. "Let me spell it out for you, Jason. You and I don't get along."  
"... Well, why is that?"  
"Our,... 'theology' doesn't agree. Let's leave it at that."  
"What do you mean?"  
She sighed a very annoyed sigh.  
"I'm homosexual, genius." She stated outright, like it was no big deal. "Then again, I guess you'd have found that out eventually. It's not hard to figure out."  
She looked at him like she was expecting some kind of a big speech, a lecture, some kind of chastisement branding her a 'heretic' or a 'pagan'. Jason's response caught her off guard.  
"Why?"  
The question startled her, as if she wasn't sure why he had to ask.  
"Because I was born that way, duh. Isn't that obvious?"  
"Well, who told you that?"  
She was about to respond to him, about to tell him about all those kids at her middle school and high school that had told her since the moment she stepped foot onto school grounds that because she looked like a boy she must have a thing for girls, that she wasn't really a girl that she was just a boy gone wrong, that she was some kind of sideshow freak, that she wasn't normal, that she was a lesbo, a broad, a prostitute at heart. That only her cousin Michelle had understood her, respected her, and befriended her. She stopped just short of revealing her most painful secret to him.  
"It's not important." She responded, turning away from him.  
  
Chapter 3- Outer Rim Rescue  
  
Kevin knew he was getting close. Having narrowly made his way into one of the ancient pyramids unnoticed by security, he now felt his way along in the dark. Suddenly, a beam of light from up ahead illuminated the area, and he ducked into a fold in the wall to avoid being discovered.  
"Sailor Exodus! Sailor Exodus!" Shouted a voice from where the light originated.  
"Who is it?" Kevin said, cautiously peering out from behind his hiding spot. "Who's there?"  
"I'm Sailor Neptune, here to help you find that crystal!"  
"Neptune? Never heard of you."  
"I'm from the future. Nebula and Pluto-"  
Suddenly, a deafening roar, like a jet taking off, resounded throughout the ancient tunnels.  
  
Zack, amongst a crowd of tourists, slowly made his way to the ruins of the Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon. His sword sheathed at his side so as not to attract attention, he slowly made his way closer to the actual structures that housed the largest gardens. He looked cautiously about, hoping for some kind of distraction so he could look around the gardens unrestrictedly. He got a distraction, alright. Three, actually.  
One was a giant flower monster with blue armor and three arms. The other was a surprisingly young Sailor Soldier carrying a scythe-like staff in her hands. The third was the grey gem in the Scout's hand. The crowds rushed away in fear as the two warriors met in combat.  
  
Kevin and Michelle rushed out of the pyramid just ahead of a freakish Nega-monster straight out of ancient Egypt. The thing looked like a pharaoh with snake-skin, glowing red eyes, and a mouth with teeth like swords. The thing had the tail of a scorpion and the claws of a wolverine. In it's hands it held-  
"It's got a CyberShadow Crystal!" Michelle exclaimed.  
"We've gotta stop it!" Kevin exclaimed.  
"No!" Michelle held out a hand to stop him. "You'll get yourself killed. Let me fight this battle."  
"No way! This is my fight as much as yours!"  
"It'll also be both of your funerals! Prepare to meet the great beyond!" The creature screamed.  
"Neptune Deep Submerge!"  
  
"Prepare to die, Sailor scum!" The plant creature shouted, it's arms suddenly transforming into vine tentacles as they whipped out at Saturn. She blocked and parried where she could, slicing off a few of the many vines as the battle raged on, but some of the vines suddenly wrapped around her legs and pulled them right out from under her. Her staff went flying out of her hands as more and more vines wrapped around her, glowing as they drained the energy right out of her.  
"Hey, garden disaster!"  
The monster suddenly turned it's attention as Zack, sword ready, raced up to it. With it's arms all tied around Saturn, it had no way to protect itself as Zack expertly swiped his sword, slicing off the creature's right arm. The vines of the arm slumped to the ground, shriveled, and dried up as the creature's arm socket bled a strange kind of green goop. Ignoring Saturn for a second, it uncoiled it's grip around the young Sailor Scout and focused it's attention on Zack, only to suddenly get sent to the ground far below the rooftop by a spin kick from Zack. Zack quickly rushed over and helped Saturn to her feet.  
"And who would you be?" He inquired, handing her her staff.  
"Sailor Saturn, and thanks for the help." She pulled out the crystal and handed it to him. "Get out of sight and transform. I'll hold this thing off until then."  
"You know who I am??"  
"Long story; there'll be time for it later."  
  
"This thing just won't die!" Kevin exclaimed as he took another swipe at the massive creature, leaving a cut into it's chest that bled blue blood.  
"It's using the power of the crystal as a supercharger! Try to get that crystal!" Michelle exclaimed. "I'll hold it off as long as I-"  
The creature suddenly flashed out of existence from in front of Kevin, reappearing right in front of Michelle. It struck, first with it's claws, then once Michelle was hurtled to the ground it prepared it's stinger to strike her down. She had a bloody rip down her left arm and part of her shoulder and cringed in pain as the monster prepared for the finishing blow.  
Suddenly, in mid-strike, it stopped. Michelle looked up to see a sword blade stabbed straight through the creature's chest. Kevin pulled the blade out and the hell-spawned freak fell to the ground, limp and unmoving. Blue blood dripped from the sword, then vaporized as the monster itself turned to dust and vanished. Kevin helped Michelle to her feet, then sheathed his sword.  
"Thank you." Michelle said in exhausted relief. "I owe you my life."  
"Think nothing of it, and I mean that." Kevin replied, picking up the crystal. "We're Sailor Scouts; we watch each others backs and save each others lives. It's part and parcel with the job."  
"C'mon, let's get out of here before the crowds come back." She stated, wiping the sting of sweat from her brow.  
  
"I'll drain the life out of you and feed your body in little pieces to the birds!" The Nega-monster shouted as Saturn dodged another whip-like strike with it's vines. It's right arm had already regrown itself, just as she knew it would, and it was attacking her with everything it had. 'How predictable,' She thought to herself, dodging another strike that left a hole in the building's roof. 'A plant monster that can regenerate it's injuries. Can't the Negaforce be a little more original?'  
"Silence Glaive Surprise!" She shouted, ribbons of strange energy flashing into existence as she whipped her staff around. The ribbons converged on the Nega-monster, but this creature was quick. One second it was inches from the ribbons of destruction, the next it had leapt high into the air using it's vines like a pole-vault and came down right behind Sailor Saturn.  
"Not so fast, Nega-scum!"  
The creature turned it's attention away from Saturn a split second before Zack leapt up onto the roof, in one fluent motion slicing the freakish plant creature through. Suddenly realizing it's own true mortality, a frozen look of horror etched permanently onto it's face, the creature's body fell apart into two sections, each one rolling off the building's roof in a different direction. The pieces shriveled and dried up at an unrealistic speed, and within the course of a minute were nothing more than dust. Zack sheathed his sword and turned to face Saturn.  
"So much for 'Darth Salad-Bar'. You OK?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
"Now, mind telling me that long story?"  
  
Chapter 4- Cyber Rebirth  
  
"The crystal's close, I can feel it." Jason stated. It was nearly nightfall now, and he and Amara were still trekking through the rainforests, cautiously covering their tracks in case that Nega-monster was still trying to find them for a rematch.  
"Unfortunately, it's not a good idea for us to travel during the night, especially not with that creature on the loose. We'll have to set up a camp soon."  
"According to this map I bought back in the cities, there should be a fishing village nearby where we could stay the night."  
"Good idea, for once. That vampire wouldn't be quite as quick to try to attack us in a village where the alarm would spread quickly. About how far is it?"  
"Another mile or two; if we're lucky, we can make it there before sundown." He put the map away, then turned to face Amara. "Thank you for saving my life back there. I would have been lunch meat if you hadn't shown up."  
"Yeah, well, I wanna get this done and over with as quick as possible, so don't get all buddy-buddy with me. You find that crystal, we get that vampire monster out of the picture, and then I'm outta here, K?"  
"You're not gonna stay and help us fight Azurite and Alexis?"  
"Listen, I've got enough problems of my own in the future without having to worry about saving the past. You grab that crystal, we get back to Tokyo, and I'm outta here. Got that?"  
  
Meanwhile, in Tokyo...  
"Still having those dreams, Mina?" Lita asked as the two conversed via the phone.  
"Yeah... it's really weird. Whoever he is, he's the handsomest guy I've ever seen. But I've never even met anybody who looks remotely like him."  
"Yeah, I had that happen once too. Only in the long run it turned out to just be some kind of mixed persona of two of my old boyfriends."  
"Yeah, maybe that's all it is . . . I don't know, Lita. I feel like I've met him, in the dreams I almost feel like I know his name... but when I wake up it's all just gone. I... I just can't explain it."  
"Have you asked Rei about it?"  
"Yeah," She twirled the phone cord in her fingers. "But that's another strange thing about all this. Rei usually can get some kind of... well... 'reading' on dreams and stuff, but she's getting zilch on this one. She says it's almost like it's... well... shielded somehow."  
"Shielded?"  
"I don't know how to explain it. It's just so... mysterious! And that's part of the reason I need to find out what the deal is with this."  
  
She had no idea the invisible forces at work behind the scenes, preserving her dreams until the time was right, nor of the identity of her secret 'dream in shining armor'. Seti stood just behind Mina as the phone conversation continued, able to hear everything on both ends as only an angel could. She put her hand reassuringly on Mina's shoulder, sighed, then looked out the window at the city all around, not failing to notice the small group of demons just outside of the window. This place was, for the moment, sanctified, and no demon could enter sanctified ground without facing the consequences: the anger and wrath of the living Lord God.  
"Tonight, Mina, the next piece of the puzzle will be made known to you, and no force of shadow and darkness will steal it away from you."  
  
Mina slept in a deep, heaven-sent sleep that night, as a host of magnificent, shining angelic guardians stood about her, encircling her bed and guarding her against the forces of darkness that were so close every single angel there could feel their putrid presences. Suddenly, a awe-inspiring light cut into the reality of the city all around them, filling their fields of vision and driving back the darkness all around. Outside the house, demonic warriors fled left and right as the light solidified into a presence, a holy presence, then entered the house. The angelic guard, led by Seti, all bowed in righteous reverence as the Holy One walked over to the bed, His white robes flowing behind him and filling the room with their light as if they had been fashioned from sunlight itself.  
The Spirit looked at Mina with the eyes of a father looking at his daughter, a love like none other sparkling in His eyes. His body surrounded in a white light beyond explanation or comprehension, he reached out and delicately touched Mina's forehead. A spark of light burst into existence as His skin touched hers, then vanished just as suddenly. He nodded approvingly, then turned to Seti and motioned for her to rise to her feet.  
"Guard her well, Seti. Within her now resides the key to the victory against Zetax; she will be a chosen instrument in this battle. She must not be allowed to fall into enemy hands . . . until the due time. You know what must be done."  
"Yes, my Lord. As you have said, so shall it be done."  
The presence of the Holy One departed, for a split second once more filling the city with His mighty light and sending demons scattering in fear, then was gone just as suddenly as He had come. Seti's angels stood to their feet, and then resumed their watch duty over Mina as if nothing had ever happened. But something had happened, and soon enough Zetax would know that He had been here...  
Meanwhile, Mina's dreams suddenly took on a new life... a new sense of reality... as once more she met the mysterious hero of her dreams...  
  
After a night of rest, Jason and Amara were on the move again. Hacking their way through jungle overgrowth, they slowly got closer and closer to where the Crystal lay, until-  
"It's close, closer than it's ever been. I can feel it; we're practically right on top of it." Jason stated.  
"Thank goodness."Amara mumbled. "Let's find that crystal and get out of here."  
After walking towards where Jason sensed the crystal to be for another half-hour or so, the two Scouts happened across a massive, gigantic tree almost as big as a skyscraper.  
"Whoa.......... that thing's HUGE!" Jason exclaimed. "No wonder the crystal found it's way here; this must be the biggest tree in the history of the world!!"  
"No kidding..." Amara agreed. "The question is, where in the tree is it?"  
"I guess we'll just have to follow my feeling on it." Jason stated. He walked over to the tree and grabbed a handhold. "Let's get climbing."  
"I've got a better idea." She said, stepping a few feet back. She suddenly sprinted forward, going at incredibly fast speeds, then leapt high into the air and landed on the lowest branch, which was almost 30 feet off the ground. "You'd better let me handle this, Jason. I'll find that crystal and bring it down to you. You'd just be a bother; stay down there."  
Amara moved like a chaeta given human form, jumping from one tree branch to another with lightning-like precision and speed. Each time she got to one of the larger branches she stopped and looked around, searching for the crystal. Jason could only watch as she leapt higher and higher until, eventually, he couldn't even see her anymore. Suddenly, he heard a shout from way up above.  
" . . . I've found it!! I'm coming down!!"  
"Just what I wanted to hear!" Screamed a voice from behind Jason. "Outta my way, punk!"  
Jason spun around just in time to be sent flying as a living green blur zipped past him, leveling a punch at him as it shot past. The punch sent him flying to the ground, wind knocked out of him, as the creature scurried up the tree on it's eight spider-like crystalline legs. It moved like any spider would, climbing the wood as if there was no such thing as gravity. It quickly homed in on it's target; high up in the branches Amara held the crystal in one hand and readied her sword in the other. The vampire shot up the surface of the tree at incredible speeds, going so fast in fact that it didn't even see as Amara leveled a spin kick at it. The creature fell back, then lost it's balance and fell clean off of the tree, plummeting to the forest way below.  
"Good riddance to bad garbage." Amara mumbled, her sword disappearing at a thought.  
Suddenly, a string of what looked like thick spider webbing shot up at her from where the creature had fallen, wrapping itself around her in a huge tangling blob around her only seconds before pulling her violently downward towards the imminent death below. She thrashed in mid-fall as both she and the creature plummeted to the ground, unable to free herself or activate her sword. She saw the ground rush up to meet her as blobs of the monster's red spit flew up past her.  
"I'll survive this fall, but I bet you won't!" The vampire spat, laughing maniacally. "You're history, Sailor Scout!"  
  
(To be continued... I know, you hate me...)  
The characters I own:  
Jason/Sailor (Cyber) Genesis  
Kevin/Sailor (Cyber) Exodus  
Zack/Sailor (Cyber) Apocalypse  
Azurite, the evil Negalord of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Alexis, Negalady of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Seti, ArchAngel warrior  
Zetax, demonic warrior  
  
Concepts I own:  
Imperium Cyber Crystal  
Imperium Darkshadow Crystal  
  
— The quest has begun... but will the Sailor and Cyber Scouts survive the prophecy? I mean, the Cyber Scouts are still either very weakly powered or powerless, the ArchAngels are officially 'on-hold' until the CyberShadow prophecy runs it's course, and Amara/Sailor Uranus is presently falling from a deadly height towards imminent death. Are we in trouble here, or what? You'll just have to find out what happens next time! This is Sailor Revelation, AKA Ryan (da Edge) Edgerton, signing off.--- 


	2. Default Chapter Title

Cyber Scouts, Prophecy Saga: part 2  
Life and Death Delayed  
  
By Ryan Edgerton, author of TEAM REVELATION and CARDCAPTORS: the Realm series.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the Sailor Moon TV show- Serena/Sailor Moon, Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei(sorry if that's not the correct spelling)/Sailor Mars, Lita/Sailor Mercury, Mina/Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Molly, Melvin, and anybody else I forgot to mention. The ArchAngel Shiro belongs to Eternal Studios and the ArchAngels: The Saga comics series. I'll make a list of the characters I do own at the end of the fic.  
  
Chapter 5- Enemies of the Truth  
  
Amara was falling, falling so fast her head hurt from the G-forces. The vampire-monstrosity that held her bound by tough webbing laughed in evil victory. Things didn't look good.  
Suddenly, a blur of steel cut through the air like a warrior angel, slicing expertly through the webbing that had Amara bound helpless with a sound like a rushing of wind. The webs fell off of her, and she instantly activated her Arabian-style sword. Grabbing the leather handle of the sword that cut her free as it zipped past, she used it's speed and trajectory to throw her safely towards the tree, using the sword to hold on and keep from falling. Her body hit the tree hard, so hard it knocked grip her loose, and she once more plummeted towards the ground. She knew what she had to do at this point. With a well-angled thrust, she stabbed her own sword into the wood of the tree. Slowly, her sword dragging a huge scar down the side of the tree, she slowed her fall as best she could, leaving the Nega-monster falling helplessly through open air towards the ground. It disappeared from view, then she heard a muffled 'thud' as it's body hit the ground. Using her sword to swing to the nearest branch, she quickly began making her way down the tree towards where she knew the creature had landed, the sword dematerializing at a thought from her and dematerializing in her left hand.  
"Hey Amara!" Jason shouted up to her from way, way below. "You'd better get down here, and quick! The vampire's still in pretty good health, and soon enough I might not be!"  
"Keep your shirt on, Jason!" She shouted back, then mumbled. "For all our sakes..."  
  
A huge crater in the ground now harbored the broken, but not quite defeated body of the Nega-creature that had been after Amara and Jason. Jason watched as it slowly, obviously painfully, got to it's feet and dragged itself out of the crater, green blood mixing with it's red saliva as it spat out a few pints of it's blood, the result being a freakish kind of 'poison ivy' color. Jason was battle-ready, but doubted he could really do much against this thing on his own.  
'Amara, I hope you get down here soon!' He thought to himself as the creature suddenly locked an angry glare on him and clenched it's four fists.  
"Well, who have we here? If it isn't the powerless Cyber Scout twerp. You think I look bad, kid, just wait till' I get through with you!" It spat, barring it's razor-sharp claws.  
"Hold it right there, you overblown Dracula wanna-be." Amara shouted, jumping out of the trees.  
The monster turned to face it's opponent.  
"Who *are* you, Scout? I'd like to know so I can put the right name on your tombstone." The monster mocked.  
"Lured by the new ethic, I am Sailor Uranus. Your type of evil has no place on a world such as earth, and I'll make sure it stays that way." She suddenly turned her attention to Jason. "Jason, catch!"  
Throwing the CyberShadow crystal like a fastball, Amara quickly tossed it clean past the creature's grasp and into Jason's reach. He caught it easily, and suddenly a green energy field surrounded him as his powers began to return. His armor flashed into existence, then his visor, and a split second later he held his sword in his hand, neon-green energy surrounding the blade.  
"Alright!" Jason exclaimed, then tucked the crystal safely away and turned to face the monster. "I am Sailor Genesis, guardian of life and life that comes of the Spirit of God. You are the enemy of both, and I will make sure you meet your defeat!"  
"What do you think this is, Broadway? You two make my stomach churn, but soon enough you'll be lunch! Prepare to die!" The creature shouted, jumping into the tree once more and aiming it's four hands at the two Scouts, blasting without warning beams of intense red energy.  
" Sorry, but it's not lunchtime yet!" Amara exclaimed, she and Jason dodging the swarms of pinpoint-width energy blasts. She turned to Jason. "Jason, use your Solar Blast Surround!"  
"Huh?" He exclaimed, dodging a mass of beams.  
"It's one of your attacks from the future! Just do it!"  
"Here goes nothing..." Jason thought out loud, then suddenly the attack came to the forefront of his mind like a bolt out of the blue. A surprised look came over him, but as more energy bolts blasted next to him he snapped out of it, sheathed his sword, and dodged the beams. "OK, kick-butt time! Genesis Solar" Suddenly, his armor and body suit glowed a pure white energy, light shining off like the sun reflecting in a mirror. A dome of sunlight suddenly surrounded him as his eyes momentarily went completely energy-white. "Blast" The light grew more intense, and he jumped high into the air, aimed straight at the creature. "Surround!!"  
"Uh oh-!" The vampire said, but didn't get another sound out as a beam of light so powerful it seemed to be solid crashed out from Jason's dome, nailing the monster to the ground as it exploded the ground all around where it struck.  
"Uranus Space Sword Blaster!" Amara slashed the air with her sword, sending out a paper-thin boomerang of golden energy. It struck with razor-sharp accuracy, and as the light of Jason's Solar Blast slowly faded it became clear that there was nothing left of the creature. For a few seconds more, Jason hung motionless in mid-air, as if he was hovering, then gravity suddenly reasserted itself and he plummeted to the ground. Amara couldn't move fast enough to catch him, and he hit the ground, unconscious. She rushed over to where he lay, unmoving. "Oh no, he must not have had enough power to... but then how...?"  
Suddenly, it dawned on her. Something from her earliest days fighting the Negaverse alongside, sometimes alongside, Sailor Moon and the other Scouts. The pure heart crystals...  
... If anyone had one, Jason surely did. But, now that she knew about this, she had to make sure. Pointing her sword at his chest and closing her eyes, she concentrated. A slim beam of white energy emerged from her sword and hit his chest in a small flash of light. Sure enough, a brilliant transparent crystal, so clear it could have been made of the finest glass and still not been as breathtaking, only the slightest hint of red coloring evident on it's surface, emerged. It shown with an incredible brilliance, almost like as if it harbored the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal within it's sparkling surface. She bent to touch it, to pick it up, but a sudden electric-like field flashed into existence in an orb around it, and in a flash of light the crystal was suddenly back, deep within him, it's powers flowing through the very core of his being.  
Amara was amazed. She'd never seen a pure heart crystal quite like it. What *was* that power????  
  
Just behind her, a mighty ArchAngel in green and silver armor stood vigilant over Jason. His radically strange blue hair, his natural color, was cut into a low crewcut, his piercing white eyes harbored an incredible power and the knowledge to use it, giving them a sharp, skillful look, but nowhere near as sharp as his sword, which he held at his side limply. The weapon looked like a lightning bolt given a steel form, it's blade astonishingly sharp on one side, and the other side still sharp as thunder but jagged and evenly toothed all the way to the hilt, which was designed to look like a many-sided jewel and flowed seamlessly into the handle. Nearby, but keeping it's distance for the moment, was one of Zetax's stronger warriors. The massive demon's muscles were as big as computer monitors and it was impossible to ignore the dragon-like armor he wore: spiked shoulder pads, wing-like leg bracers, and the chest piece was designed to look like the head of a massive dragon, it's eyes aflame behind their metal-cast sockets. The two glared warily at each other, both ready to fight to the death if the other dared make one wrong move.  
'You have the scales of a serpent covering your eyes, Amara.' The green clad warrior, Namor, thought to himself as he and the demon champion, Mevokra, starred at each other from several feet away. 'And the armies of the Abyss fighting to make sure it stays that way...'  
"C'mon, angel. Make my day, I dare you. Just try to so much as speak a syllable to her heart and I'll turn you into barbecue meat." Mevokra challenged, his fists surrounded in bright blue, red, and black flames, his weapon of choice.  
"You know as well as I that our time of confrontation has not yet come, demon." Namor stated, sword still limp at his sides. "But likewise, if you attempt to harm either Jason or Amara, I *am* under orders to stop you at any cost."  
"As am I, angel. Her soul belongs to us, and his to your side. So, as you can see, I have every right to be here."  
"As do I, but rest assured that no action will be taken against either of them by your side without counter-action from mine."  
"Then, for once, we are in agreement." He huffed. "We will each follow them from a distance, angel, far enough from either of them that we cannot make a move towards them without the other knowing and countering. Agreed?"  
"I have my orders. They will not be touched," Namor stated. "By either side."  
  
Chapter 6- Cyber Rebirth  
  
The gates of time, the untold and mysterious realm between past and future, not quite a realm of the present but also neither out of time in it's own. Strange white fog filled the stranger still universe, masking almost everything that moved amongst them.  
"Jason has collected the third CyberShadow Crystal." Nebula stated, her form emerging from the fog like a phantom materializing out of the night.  
"Good." Pluto stated. "With the first three secured, each of them now have a power source strong enough to use their Cyber Scout powers. We could not have hoped for it to go any better so far."  
"You know that, now that they have their powers are restored to them, the Negaforce and Chaos will not go half as easy on them as they have so far."  
"Yes, our using the fact that they assumed the Cyber Scouts would be getting no backup worked out very well for the first 'round' of this fight, but now they will be well alerted and ready to fight with their strongest. We must assume that it's possible even Chaos itself will become involved at some point or another."  
"Accursed Negaverse demon! That energy creature simply refuses to remain destroyed, doesn't it." Nebula stated, and it wasn't a question.  
"I'd have to agree with you that the term 'demon' would fit that entity quite well," Pluto stated. "But enough of that; we must begin planning for the 'next round'."  
'If only you knew, Pluto.' Tasha thought to herself. 'If only you knew...'  
"We need to bring the Cyber Scouts back here now, as well as Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn. It's time the Cyber Scouts learned of their... history..." Pluto stated.  
"Agreed." Tasha added.  
  
One minute, Kevin and Michelle were trying to find a place in Cairo, Egypt, trying to get a pair of hotel rooms to stay the night in, the next they suddenly found themselves in a strange world filled with dense white fog. They also heard other voices around them, and suddenly found that they were amongst some familiar company, and some not-so familiar as well. Jason and Amara, Zack and the mysterious Sailor Saturn, as well as Pluto and Nebula. All the Cyber Scouts had surprised looks on their faces, as did most of the outer rim Scouts as Nebula and Pluto approached the group.  
"Wha-" Jason exclaimed, but Pluto silenced him by simply holding her hand up.  
"Well done so far, Cyber Scouts." Nebula acknowledged, then began introducing everybody in the now larger group to each other. "May I introduce, for those who don't already know, Sailors Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn. Pluto and I called for their aid in helping you rescue the CyberShadow Crystals, and so far it looks like you've all made good teams. Don't worry, Cyber Scouts, they've already met you... in the future."  
"I guess that means we survive this whole thing, huh? Otherwise, they'd never have had the chance to meet us in the future if we died here in the past." Kevin asked.  
"Don't be too sure of your safety, Sailor Exodus." Pluto stated. " Lesson 101 about time and the timeline: there are two kinds of time that usually exist parallel each other. The first kind is 'relative time' which is the kind that can be altered and occasionally reshaped; I have power over only relative time. 'Consistent time' is the kind of time that is only felt when relative time is altered or frozen. Time still passes along whether or not it is frozen, thus the science behind my Time Freeze. Relative time is how we perceive time, is the kind that can be traveled through and molded under certain circumstances; consistent time is the type of time that we live in during time travel, time freezes, and the such. Relative usually consists of only a personal perception, however, consistent flows straight and unmoving no matter what the factors that influence it. Human aging, for instance, is linked directly into consistent time."  
"Um,... that's... very revealing..." Zack stated.  
"It means that nothing in the future is entirely certain."  
"However, we didn't bring you here for a science lesson." Nebula stated. "It's time, Cyber Scouts, that you knew the truth about your history as Scouts."  
"Whatd'ya mean, our past as Scouts?" Jason interjected. "I thought we just found the Cyber Crystal and became Cyber Scouts, and that was it."  
"OK, kid," Amara cut in. "Time for a lesson in Scout-ology. #1, nobody just *becomes* Scouts anymore, not since the end of the Silver Millennium."  
"Perhaps you should let me tell the story, Uranus." Nebula stated.  
"I *do* have a first name, you know."  
"Sorry, *Amara*, perhaps I should be the one to tell this story."  
"Fine by me. After all, *you're* Jason's sister, if anyone should-"  
"My *sister*??!!???" Jason exclaimed, looking in astonishment at Sailor Nebula. " . . . Tasha?????"  
"Yes, Jason, it's me." Tasha stated, suddenly de-transforming. In a flash her hair was no longer it's strangely natural blue, but instead it's chestnut brown. The red color was gone from her eyes, and the ocean-blue flashed into existence as the dominant color, her Scout uniform was replaced by casual clothing, but her staff remained. Jason, Zack, and Kevin listened, awestruck, as Tasha explained their mysterious history on the moon, during the Silver Millennium...  
  
Chapter 7- Ancient of Days  
  
A long, long time ago, in a place far removed from the earth and universe in which the known human race inhabit today and yet in a strange way, 'overlapping' it, a millennium of unprecedented peace reigned throughout the universe. After centuries of evil ruling supreme in the universe, a single mighty power had brought about restoration and new life. This story so many all ready know, the story of Queen Serenity's 'Silver Millennium' and of the way it was abruptly shattered by the evil powers of Queen Beryl, the Negaforce, and the ever-mysterious Chaos and Doom Phantom. One side of the story, however, has been guarded for ages, kept a secret until the CyberShadow prophecy once again took up authority over the timeline. This is that story...  
It was two nights before the fateful day of evil, the day that would shatter peace as the universe knew it, but the inhabitants of the moon were blissfully unaware. All were celebrating the 1000th anniversary of the galactic peace that had brought so much joy and happiness to the universe. The greatest figures of all history were gathered together at the Imperial Palace of the moon, and romance was in the air. The stars sparked brilliantly off in the night skies, and the earth had never looked closer or more beautiful. The princess of Venus, Mina, gazed off into the beautiful night, wearing a stunning gown glittering with precious stones and her tiara on her forehead. Suddenly, a shadowed figure leapt from the rooftop behind her onto the balcony she stood upon, his cape fluttering majestically behind him and his armor glittering in the silent moonlight.  
"Princess..." He said, causing her to turn and face him. Mina turned to see her betrothed prince, Jason of the guard of earth, standing behind her. His green-golden eyes, brown hair streaked with lines of brown, glittering armor, flowing cape, and sword sheathed at his side turned him into a majestic knight in shining armor. He was Mina's knight in shining armor.  
"Prince Jason, I did not expect you to be back so quickly!" She exclaimed in surprise. "I thought you were on a mission on earth. When did you get here?"  
"Only an hour ago, but it felt like an eternity, my love. I asked Queen Serenity's royal permission to attend the dance two nights from now, and she granted my request. She also said that, since I would be here, princes Kevin and Zack should come with me and attend the dance as well. How are you, my princess?"  
"Very well, my love. Whenever you are here, I know I am safe."  
"If only such a thing were true, my sweet princess. My mission on earth has brought fearful information to light that concerns us all, the entire universe perhaps even!"  
"What is it, Jason? What dreadful things could bring about such concern??" Mina questioned, fear and worry on her face.  
"Even I don't know that for certain yet, but it is rumored that the Negaforce may be behind it. Things are going badly on earth, but for the time the danger does not seem too great. However, if something should go wrong, I can only pray that God would find a way to save us."  
"You know He will, Jason. He is not willing that any should perish."  
He sighed.  
"You are right, as always, my beloved. At any rate, I have come here to ask you to the dance. Would you give me the honor of coming with me to the dance, fair maiden?"  
"I am the one who would be honored, my love." She said, a smile on her face. "I'll await you at the grand ball, my prince."  
"Good night to you, fair princess..."  
  
But things would not go as they had planned. True, Jason and Mina made it to the grand ball, but...  
  
The dance was well underway, people dancing all around the massive hall. Jason and Mina were there amongst them, Jason clothed in a handsome tuxedo and matching forest-green inside and black backed cape, and Mina wore a gorgeous gold and silver dress, a sparkling tiara, and star-shaped earrings made completely of a single cut diamond each. 'She looks beautiful,' Jason thought to himself as the two swept across the ballroom.  
Suddenly, their moment of joy and love was shattered as Luna and Artemis rushed into the room, shouting.  
"We're under attack! Everybody, get to your stations!" Artemis shouted in panicked fear. "We're under attack!!"  
Jason and Mina exchanged surprised glances, then she quickly pulled out her transformation wand and they rushed out of the room, already transforming into her Scout form.  
"Stay close by me, Mina." Jason stated as her transformation completed. "I was afraid of this. The Negaforce must be attacking!"  
"We can win, right Jason??" Mina looked at him unsurely.  
"I . . . I don't know, Mina. I just don't know..."  
The two rushed to the field of battle, aiming their attacks at Negaverse soldiers and monsters as they went. Suddenly, Zack and Kevin joined up with them, and the four formed a square back-to-back to defend against the attacking forces on all sides.They quickly cut away the forces of the enemy, sending the survivors running away to regroup. Suddenly, from amongst the fleeing soldiers, four silhouetted forms emerged, a sword in each of their hands. They bore clothing that immediately marked them as Generals of the Negaverse. Three were male, and one was female.  
"Who have we here? Pitiful warriors of the rebellion? Humph. Easy prey." The one in the lead, who had long white hair, mocked.  
"Watch who you're calling 'pathetic', traitor to the Negaverse!" Zack challenged.  
"Ah, these must be the infamous warriors of the guard of earth. They're not half of what I was expecting." The guy warrior with long brown hair stated.  
"Your insignificant 'rebellion' may have lasted this millennium, but now your reign is over, Sailor scum!" The female warrior with semi-short blond hair scoffed.  
"Enough talk; let's get rid of these insignificant specks." The male General with short blond hair suggested.  
Suddenly, Sailor Nebula appeared on the scene.  
"Sailor Venus!" She called out, rushing to join the group. "The other Sailors need your help to protect the princess! They're over at the entrance to the palace; hurry, go!"  
She turned quickly to Jason in silent communication, then with a quick glance at the four warriors lined up opposite them, she rushed off towards the palace as fast as she could run.  
"Shouldn't we go after her?" Neflite inquired.  
"No, not yet. Now we have much bigger fish to fry." Malachite mocked. "Besides, my brother's forces will probably finish her off on her way to the palace, so there's no need to worry about the scrawny thing."  
"You'd better watch who you call scrawny!" Jason challenged, sword drawn in challenge.  
"Your attack will not succeed, Malachite. This is the end of the road for you." Tasha stated, staff ready.  
"You must be the infamous Sailor Nebula; what a pleasure to finally meet you. Too bad we won't have the chance to meet again after this fight." Malachite laughed. "Oh, but before you all die, you should know that there's really no point in fighting us. We already have the CyberShadow Crystal and Queen Beryl is preparing to use it even as we speak!"  
"You're bluffing." Tasha stated. Malachite suddenly didn't look quite as confident of himself due to the firmness of her statement. Tasha smirked. "I hurtled it into space myself."  
Suddenly, before either side could attack, a massive blast of black energy crashed down onto the surface of the planet, leaving unprecedented destruction and abundant death in it's wake. The force of the blow sent Jason, Kevin, Tasha, and Zack flying at least a hundred feet each, sending each Scout tossed about like so much debris. The explosion didn't even touch Malachite and his forces, though, who simply stood and laughed as the Scouts lay there, almost a hundred feet away, limp and unmoving. They walked over to the fallen bodies of their enemies, swords ready to finish them off, when suddenly-  
-A massive surge of light from the direction of what remained of the palace lit up the sky.  
  
Chapter 8- Danger Zone  
  
"And as they say," Nebula stated. "The rest is history. Queen Serenity had no choice but to use the Silver Crystal to send every living thing on the planet, with the exception of herself and a remote few, into the future, and to earth, where they would be accepted into loving families to grow up as if the Silver Millennium had never occurred. However, something happened to cause the people whom she'd rescued to be sent, not to her earth, but instead into another one very similar, an earth where the Negaforce had never arisen and taken control, a world free of the destruction-riddled remains of the Silver Millennial War. To this day, the only logical explanation for the course change was that, somehow, destiny stepped in."  
"And now here we all are," Pluto interjected. "On a world that is not our own, in a universe that we were not born in."  
"But... if we were one age when we were in the Silver Millennium, why didn't we come to earth at that stage in our lives?" Jason questioned.   
"To answer your question, Jason," Pluto stated. "Something happened when the people Serenity rescued crossed the dimensional border that caused them to age in reverse for a time. That part of your history is still a great mystery, and perhaps one day we will have the answer."  
"Did we have our powers during the Silver Millennium?" Zack inquired.  
"Unfortunately, no. All three of you were great warriors of Queen Serenity's court, and were also the ones Serenity had chosen to receive the Cyber powers if ever the Crystal could be divided into it's two parts. Tragically, that never happened." Pluto stated.  
"Yeah, yeah, and you can blame it all on the Negaforce." Amara stated. "Can we go home now??"  
"Amara," Tasha chastised. "There are still four CyberShadow Crystals left to be found. What makes you think you're going anywhere until we have all seven???"  
"What??! They've got their powers back, they don't need our help any more! This is cruel and unusual!!"  
"Sailor Uranus," Tasha admonished firmly. "Are you or are you not a Sailor Scout, sworn to protect the innocent and uphold true justice?"  
"I don't need *you* reminding me of my duty, Tasha. Fine, if we have to locate the crystals, so be it, but at least don't stick my with 'Dudley Do-Right' again. OK?"  
"That's completely acceptable." Pluto stated. Amara sighed in relief.  
  
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Mina dreamt of things from long, long ago. Of the Silver Millennium... of a prince named Jason in shining green armor... of an evil that was a nightmare in it's own...  
...She remembered him now...  
...Azurite...  
  
The dance was well underway, people dancing all around the massive hall. Jason and Mina were there amongst them, Jason clothed in a handsome tuxedo and matching forest-green inside and black backed cape, and Mina wore a gorgeous gold and silver dress, a sparkling tiara, and star-shaped earrings made completely of a single cut diamond each. 'He looks so handsome tonight' Mina thought as the two swept across the ballroom.  
Suddenly, their moment of joy and love was shattered as Luna and Artemis rushed into the room, shouting.  
"We're under attack! Everybody, get to your stations!" Artemis shouted in panicked fear. "We're under attack!!"  
Jason and Mina exchanged surprised glances, then she quickly pulled out her transformation wand and they rushed out of the room, already transforming into her Scout form.  
"Stay close by me, Mina." Jason stated as her transformation completed. "I was afraid of this. The Negaforce must be attacking!"  
"We can win, right Jason??" Mina looked at him unsurely.  
"I . . . I don't know, Mina. I just don't know..."  
The two rushed to the field of battle, aiming their attacks at Negaverse soldiers and monsters as they went. Suddenly, Zack and Kevin joined up with them, and the four formed a square back-to-back to defend against the attacking forces on all sides.They quickly cut away the forces of the enemy, sending the survivors running away to regroup. Suddenly, from amongst the fleeing soldiers, four silhouetted forms emerged, a sword in each of their hands. They bore clothing that immediately marked them as Generals of the Negaverse. Three were male, and one was female.  
"Who have we here? Pitiful warriors of the rebellion? Humph. Easy prey." The one in the lead, who had long white hair, mocked.  
"Watch who you're calling 'pathetic', traitor to the Negaverse!" Zack challenged.  
"Ah, these must be the infamous warriors of the guard of earth. They're not half of what I was expecting." The guy warrior with long brown hair stated.  
"Your insignificant 'rebellion' may have lasted this millennium, but now your reign is over, Sailor scum!" The female warrior with semi-short blond hair scoffed.  
"Enough talk; let's get rid of these insignificant specks." The male General with short blond hair suggested.  
Suddenly, Sailor Nebula appeared on the scene.  
"Sailor Venus!" She called out, rushing to join the group. "The other Sailors need your help to protect the princess! They're over at the entrance to the palace; hurry, go!"  
She turned quickly to Jason in silent communication, then with a quick glance at the four warriors lined up opposite them, she rushed off towards the palace as fast as she could run. She had almost made it to the palace when-  
"Hold it right there, Sailor Scout!" Azurite shouted, appearing out of the darkness. He slashed at her with the sword in his hand, but Mina ducked. She quickly leveled a kick to the chest at him, sending him to the ground. Without a second thought she bolted for the palace, meeting the other Sailor Scouts there.  
She looked up just in time to see that freakish black phantom from the Negaverse shoot a huge black beam downwards at her and the other Sailors. Somewhere in the background she could hear Queen Beryl cackling evilly, but only for the moment before the beam hit. Negative energy surrounded her, first crushing her to the ground, then causing her and the others to float helplessly, limp, and only half-conscious towards the phantom's evil grasp. She struggled with everything inside of her... but it was no use. The beast from the Abyss pulled her closer... closer...  
And then, somewhere far far far away, she heard those fateful words...  
"Cosmic... Moon... Power...!"  
Light surrounded Mina, flooding her field of vision. Everything was silent... deathly silent...  
  
... And with a sudden gasp of fear, Mina snapped awake, her dream, or nightmare shattered. She lay there, panting, gasping for breath,...  
... and remembered everything...  
...It all came rushing back to her, like a tidal wave of sudden flashbacks. The Cyber Scouts, Azurite and Alexis, Sailor Nebula, the CyberShadow prophecy, the battles, even the transponder Jason had given her. Especially the transponder Jason had given her. Clad in only her nightgown, she leapt out of bed in a frantic rush and dashed over to her jewelry box. She opened it and began rummaging desperately through item after item until at last she found it. She held it in her hand, and suddenly a thought hit her like a shockwave. She gasped in sudden surprise.  
"Azurite must be . . . Malachite's brother,... and that means... oh my God, I have to warn Darien, before it's too late!"  
  
  
Azurite looked carefully over the sword in his hands, taking in it's every feature. He looked across the small, sparse apartment to see Alexis asleep on the room's sole bed, clutching her blanket in one hand and the other loose at her side. He sheathed the mighty weapon, strapped it over his back, then walked over and kissed Alexis on the forehead.  
"I'll be back soon, my love." He whispered, then turned and looked out the window at the night-fallen city. "First, though, I have a score to settle with prince Darien..."  
  
(To be continued... I know, you really hate me...)  
The characters I own:  
Jason/Sailor (Cyber) Genesis  
Kevin/Sailor (Cyber) Exodus  
Zack/Sailor (Cyber) Apocalypse  
Azurite, the evil Negalord of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Alexis, Negalady of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Seti, ArchAngel warrior  
Namor, heavenly warrior angel  
Mevokra, demonic champ  
Zetax, demonic overlord  
  
Concepts I own:  
Imperium Cyber Crystal  
Imperium Darkshadow Crystal  
  
— Whoa, now we're gettin' intense, huh? Azurite is Malachite's brother, Jason was once a warrior for Queen Serenity on the moon, and it looks like our outer rim Scouts will be staying around to help save the day... if the day can be saved! Don't miss the next story in the Cyber Scouts Prophecy Saga! Once again, this is Sailor Revelation, AKA Ryan (da Edge) Edgerton, signing off.---  



	3. Default Chapter Title

Cyber Scouts, Prophecy Saga: part 3  
Cyber Scouts Return  
  
By Ryan Edgerton, author of TEAM REVELATION and CARDCAPTORS: the Realm series.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the Sailor Moon TV show- Serena/Sailor Moon, Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei(sorry if that's not the correct spelling)/Sailor Mars, Lita/Sailor Mercury, Mina/Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Molly, Melvin, and anybody else I forgot to mention. The ArchAngel Shiro belongs to Eternal Studios and the ArchAngels: The Saga comics series, as does the demon assassin Phalyn. I'll make a list of the characters I do own at the end of the fic.  
  
Chapter 9- Thou Shalt Not Murder  
  
The night was quiet and crisp that night in Tokyo, and almost everybody was asleep in their own beds, safely tucked away from the shadows that often harbored evil of the most powerful kinds. Not everyone, though. Three individuals in particular were awake and alert that night, one blissfully unaware of the danger that sought him like a wild beast, and two who did know what the night shadows had in store for him.  
Tuxedo Mask leapt gracefully from rooftop to rooftop, up and about on his nightly rounds of the city. It was rare that nothing even semi-important happened in Tokyo at night; usually all he had to deal with were petty thugs he came across or the occasional stick-up, but there had been nights where much worse evil had found it's way to him. Somehow, though, Darien didn't feel like this was going to be one of those nights for him. The city was too peaceful, too sleepy and calm. He felt safe, and a little bit tired on nights like tonight. He decided to make one last circuit around the most busy part of the city before heading home and catching some Z's.  
He had no idea what was after him, which was exactly the way that Azurite wanted it. It hadn't been that long ago that he'd found out that the traitor who'd had a hand in killing his brother, Malachite, was still alive and well. He thought at the time that, since the Negaforce also had it in for him that he wouldn't have to lift a finger and soon enough prince Darien would be dead, his limp body at Azurite's feet. But that had failed, failed miserably, and now he knew that old phrase was true, 'if you want something done right, do it yourself'. Darien would not escape this time.  
Mina, dressed in her Sailor Scout outfit, likewise bounded from rooftop to rooftop, headed towards the rooftop where she and Jason had first met. The transponder in her hand, she could only pray that Jason would get the signal and meet her there. He was her only hope of saving Darien.  
Invisible to all three, a mighty entourage of angels surrounded Mina, guarding her as she headed quickly towards her destination. Seti was in the lead, and she and three other ArchAngels had formed an impenetrable barrier around Mina. They would take no chances tonight.  
"Will the message get through in time??" Seti questioned as she spotted a demon scout nearby.  
"Don't worry;" Namor, her finest warrior replied. "We've got Gabriel on it. It'll get through in time."  
  
"Jason!" Tasha suddenly emerged from amidst the fog. All heads turned in her direction, surprised at the urgency in her voice. "Prince Darien is in great danger! Don't ask me how I know, just quickly touch my staff. Azurite's out for blood this time!"  
Jason and the others, for a split second, had surprised and stunned looks on their faces, then rushed over and touched the staff, instantly disappearing. Even Amara, Michelle and the mysterious Sailor Saturn rushed over and vanished off into action. Pluto looked at her counterpart in semi-stunned surprise.  
  
Suddenly, Darien stopped dead in his tracks. He'd heard something behind him, and quickly spun to locate the source. Without warning, a sword sliced the air mere millimeters from him, and he jumped back in surprise, pulling out him cane and readying himself to use it. The figure with the sword shocked him anew; he looked very similar to Fiore, only with short black hair, a blue cape, and wearing a black body suit. The figure's eyes were covered with a pair of chic black sunglasses and as he brought the sword to bear again the light of it's reflection caught on the glasses.  
"Who are you??" Darien exclaimed in shock and surprise.  
"I'm the piper; time to pay up, prince Darien!" The strange warrior quickly brought the sword into a wide swing, which Darien was able to avoid with a back flip. He swung again and again, each swipe more skillful than the last and each one bringing Darien one step closer to what appeared to be certain death. He blocked and parried where he could, but this guy was really fast! Darien pulled out a fistful of throwing roses and sent them spinning at his opponent, but the sword-wielding warrior sliced each and every one in half as they zoomed effectlessly past him, much to Darien's utter astonishment. The figure smirked. "Thanks for the target practice, 'little prince'. Now, it's time for you to die!"  
  
"Jason!" Mina cried in exasperated relief. "Oh, thank God you came!"  
"No kidding. Don't worry, Exodus and Apocalypse are already on their way to protect Darien. C'mon, there's no time to waste!"  
Before Mina could open her mouth, Jason sprinted towards the edge of the rooftop, forcing Mina to keep up. They jumped over rooftop after rooftop, forming into green and gold blurs against the night skyline.  
"How did you know Darien was in danger??" Mina exclaimed.  
"Two words: Sailor Nebula." Jason responded. "Also known as my sister. Long story; I'll tell you later."  
  
Darien ducked and dodged the lethal blade of death as best he could, but knew he was on his last few living moments unless a miracle happened. His cape had been sliced clean off by the weapon, he had a large cut in his left arm and right leg, and he'd just had the wind knocked out of him by a spin kick from the unknown figure who obviously wanted him dead. A miracle was exactly what he needed right now.  
Lucky for him, seven miracles quickly arrived.  
"Ah, (censored)! Not even *more* Scouts!!" The figure exclaimed as seven shadowed forms leapt onto the rooftop suddenly, swords in two of the Scout's hands.  
"For the first time together on national televison, I am Sailor Uranus!"  
"I am Sailor Neptune!"  
"And I am Sailor Saturn!"  
"Back to kick Nega-butt, I am Cyber Exodus!"  
"Returning to thwart evil, I am Cyber Apocalypse!"  
"Champion of outer space, I am Sailor Nebula!  
"And by this time you know that I am Sailor Pluto!"  
"No duh!" Azurite, a fistful of green gems in his hands, spat. "You Scouts always have to make a speech before you fight, but now you're gonna pay for it."  
"Not likely, Azurite." Nebula challenged.  
"Oh, I think you should find my... 'insurance policy' quite convincing. They're a Sailor Scout's worst nightmare!" He threw the gems high into the air, each one suddenly flashing as they reached the peak of the throw. One by one they each transformed into a freakish, half dragonfly, half human, and half plant creature straight out of the Sailor Scout's past. The five creatures smirked as their opponents gasped in horror.  
"It can't be!" Neptune exclaimed.  
"Sailor Moon told me about these things, but I never thought that I'd see them for myself..." Uranus whispered in fear.  
"The Doom and Gloom Girls!" Nebula and Pluto exclaimed in sync with each other.  
"No kidding, Scouts." Azurite laughed. "They're... a little something I managed to rescue after Sailor Moon destroyed that (censored) witch, Queen Beryl. Now, you'll face your worst nightmare."  
"Those things don't scare me!" Zack challenged, bringing his sword to bear on the lead creature.  
"Stick together, Scouts." Pluto warned. "We have the edge in numbers only."  
"Not for long!" Cackled the lead creature. "Alright, girls! Mow em' down!"  
The Doom and Gloom Girls shot high into the air with stunning speed, then dove downwards towards the Scouts with black energy surrounding their bodies like as if they were each in the center of a black comet.  
"Incoming!!" Saturn shouted in alarm as the Scouts scattered.  
  
Chapter 10- Wrath of the Negaverse  
  
The Doom and Gloom Girls swerved away seconds before they would have hit the rooftop, each one picking a Scout and charging headlong straight at them. Each easily hit their targets, a huge explosion of black energy accompanying each collision. Zack, Tasha, and Michelle were all sent flying clean off the building, disappearing as their limp bodies plummeted towards the city far below. Kevin and Amara, also hit, managed at the last second to grab the edge of the rooftop. The Girls regrouped in the middle of the roof, momentarily ignoring Kevin and Amara, as Pluto and Saturn prepared to counter-attack.  
"You'll pay for that, scum!!" Pluto screamed in fury. "Pluto Time Freeze!"  
The Girls easily blocked, using their black energy to form a powerful shield around each of them. The attack did, however, freeze Azurite in mid-strike, allowing Darien to dodge a potentially lethal blow.  
"Silence Glaive Surprise!"  
"Pluto Deadly Scream!"  
The Doom and Gloom Girls easily dodged, then all at once whipped out at the two Scouts, their arms becoming masses of green vines. Pluto and Saturn back flipped out of the way, but the vines simply changed course and wrapped around them in mid-air, strangling the air out of them. They gasped and forced each breath in as best they could but the vines only got tighter. The Girls smirked in evil victory.  
"Exodus Seismic Quake Explode!"  
The Girls spun as Sailor Exodus leveled his attack, a sudden shockwave of cement and roof shooting straight towards the creatures with barely split-second notice. Four of them dodged, but one of the five couldn't move fast enough. It's body was sent flying as the others looked on, watching their comrade turn into dust as it hit a building wall, then all at once they leveled a glare at Kevin.  
"You'll pay for that, you little brat." The one in the lead shouted. "Prepare to meet your doom!!"  
"Not so fast, Nega-trash!" Shouted a feminine voice out of the darkness.  
"Huh?" The lead creature spun in surprise, only to be hit split-seconds later with a combo attack of glowing white leaves and a chain of golden energy hearts. She managed to block with a sudden energy shield, but regardless the attack combo sent her flying backwards, crashing into the rooftop like a small comet. Jason and Mina leapt out of the darkness and got battle-ready alongside Pluto and Saturn.  
"--- Ngh...---" The leader groaned as it got back to it's feet. "You... you Scout are gonna pay for that... just like your friends..."  
"Hollow threat, Nega-creep!" Came yet another voice out of the shadows. Jason recognized this one immediately. With a sudden flash, three figures appeared on a nearby rooftop. Michelle, Tasha, and Zack were alright.  
"What the-! Quick, destroy them now!" The lead one exclaimed.  
The remaining Doom and Gloom Girls took aim, their hands once more forming into vines and whipping out at the three Scouts. Tasha held her staff ready as it glowed with power.  
"Nebula Protective Cloud Surround!" She shouted, her staff suddenly pulsing with power as a cloud of strange see-through energy flashed into existence, surrounding her, Michelle, and Zack. The Girls' tentacles hit the field with huge electric sparks, bouncing harmlessly off the protective barrier. Tasha's staff suddenly switched colors as she charged up for her counter-attack. "Nebula Power Storm!"  
"What the-!" All the sisters shouted at once.  
The strange cloud of energy suddenly erupted forth with massive bolts of strange-colored lightning, momentarily illuminating the entire city with it's power as the bolts bounced all around at the speed of light, then locked themselves on their targets and electrocuted the group of creatures.  
"Awesome!!" Jason exclaimed.  
The Girls fell back, badly bruised and beaten up. Suddenly, an explosion of dark energy appeared upon the rooftop, a figure appearing in the midst of the explosion. Somehow, the portal disrupted the Time Freeze, causing Azurite to fall forward, swiping at empty air. The Scouts gasped in surprise as a black feminine figure with strange, long, green hair, a full hi-tech body armor suit swirled red, and not a single inch of skin visible upon her, emerged from the warp. Azurite quickly noticed the figure and glowered at her with a strange hatred in his eyes. The figure, however, locked her eyes (which were hidden behind a black visor set into her helmet) immediately upon Sailor Nebula. Nebula, likewise, prepared her staff for use as the two figures stared each other down.  
"Who's the bimbo?" One of the Girls whispered, still holding her side in pain.  
"Hey, you! This is our fight; buzz off!" The lead of the Girls barked harshly. The figure didn't seem to care.  
"Well well well... the mighty Sailor Nebula. We meet again..." The armor-clad figure mused, the two still glaring at each other warily.  
"Get out of this, Valerra!" Azurite barked. "This is MY fight and you have no right to be here!!"  
"You're not the only one who gets assignments from the Negaforce, Azurite. Besides, do you want my help or not??"  
"Try... maybe... NOT! I don't want OR need your help, so scram!"  
"I don't think so, 'Azzy'." She turned to Tasha, black and red energy burning like a flame on her fist. "We'll battle later, and this time you won't get away, Tasha."  
The Nega-flames on her fist suddenly flashed into a blinding light, and after it had receded the Scouts realized that all of the Negaverse forces, including Azurite and the Doom and Gloom Girls, had vanished from off the rooftop. The Scout's eyes immediately locked Tasha with questioning looks. She shrugged, then let out a sigh.  
"Valerra, Negaverse master of the powers of illusion and trickery. It's a long story; I'll tell you about it later."  
  
"How DARE you!!" Azurite hollered. They were back at his and Alexis's apartment now, Alexis was now wide awake and fuming mad at Azurite, the surviving D&G Girls were back in their crystals, and Valerra was busy noticing what a dump this apartment was in comparison to her spaceship. Azurite was busy giving Valerra an earful. "I don't know what you're doing here but if you think you're staying-"  
"Aah, would you *shut up* already??" Valerra exclaimed, unable to take Azurite's incessant babbling.  
"How dare you!!"  
"Simple: I'm on assignment here and there's not a thing you can do force me out."  
"Under who's orders??"  
"Phalyn, of course! I don't receive orders from anyone else, duh."  
"Well," Azurite had a high degree of pride in his voice. "WE receive orders from the Negaforce itself. You've got no right to be here."  
"Not like you two can make me leave anyway. Here's the deal: we both want the Scouts destroyed and out of the way so the Negaverse can claim the Imperium Crystals, right? For the time being, we should work together. Then we can get them out of the way for good."  
"...You *failed* your last assignment, didn't you??" Azurite smirked. "That's why you came back here, because you got beat by a bunch of non-Scout teens on hoverboards with pocket monsters as their only weapons! HahahaHAHAHAHaha! "  
Valerra grew visibly angry.  
"You have no idea how powerful those scum have become! That V'clorek they possess has made them just as powerful as the Scouts, if not more so! Even under those circumstances, I could still defeat them easily... but somehow they've become immune to my illusions."  
"HahAhahaHa! Valerra, the 'scourge of universes', is losing her touch! HAHAHAHA!!! What a JOKE!"  
Valerra was now getting very angry. Her hands glowed with dark energy and she aimed one fist at Azurite.  
"I recommend you shut up. I'm a (censored) lot more powerful than you pathetic losers are without your lame excuse for a power crystal. I am your *ONLY* shot at beating those Scouts now that Nebula is involved. So you'd be wise to let ME handle this little 'war' of yours."  
  
Chapter 11- Curse of the Illusionist  
  
It was the next day, and all the Scouts were meeting at Jason's house to get things straightened out. Tasha and Pluto had returned all of the Sailors' memories to them, and now it was time for the group to get organized.  
"Valerra? I though we'd seen the last of her when we beat her with Jennifer's help." Serena exclaimed.  
"Please, don't remind me of that." Rei mumbled, then a sudden fire leapt into her eyes. "Valerra's gonna pay for using me like that! Nobody plays with my fire readings and gets away with it!!"  
"Chill out, Rei." Zack tried to calm her down. "There's a time and a place for everything, but for now just chill."  
"So what *is* the deal with this Valerra creep?" Jason asked, looking at his older sister. "And what did she mean when she said 'this time you wouldn't get away'?"  
Tasha sighed, visibly upset by the memories coming to the front of her mind.  
"She's one of the Negaverse's legendary warriors. She comes from a long line of conquers and tyrants, and she's rumored to be the most powerful of them all. She specializes in the powers of illusion, but she also has the standard Nega-lasers and flamethrowers and such. The last time we faced each other, she managed to defeat me and I was forced to retreat from the fight. She's a master strategist and she knows how to use her powers of deception to get inside almost anyone's head and cause as much confusion and chaos as possible."  
"Yeah, you should have seen her in action." Lita stated. "She created an army of shadow fighters we were fighting, she can disguise herself to look like anyone or anything, and who knows just what else she's capable of!"  
"And now she's working with Azurite and Alexis." Darien muttered. "That doesn't make our job any easier."  
"We can take her, can't we Jason?" Mina asked hopefully.  
Now it was Jason's turn to sigh.  
"Not if she gets those CyberShadow Crystals. So far we've been able to rescue three, but there's four more out there. If they manage to get to them before we do, we're in big trouble."  
"Then there's no more time to waste." Pluto stated. "We need to find those crystals, before Valerra can."  
"Otherwise it's game over." Amara noted.  
"But how will we find the rest of them?" Michelle inquired. "There must still be at least a dozen sites to search all across the globe, and no matter how fast we can jump from one to another it'll still take up valuable time while we search. There must be a faster way."  
"Not unless you wanna follow Valerra around and try to stop her from getting the crystals before we do. Unfortunately, we're running out of options." Jason stated.  
"Well, there's still a few more sites that I've been able to pin down with some degree of accuracy." Amy mentioned. She flipped open her palmtop and loaded up the program. The computer-generated map once again flashed into existence on it's screen. "Ok, we know that there's a crystal somewhere in the Great Barrier reefs as well as one at the North Pole. Both are dangerous enough, the pole especially so, but that's what we have to work with right now."  
"Leave the Barrier reef up to me." Michelle stated confidently. "I've always wanted to see the reef, plus I have the Scout powers for the job."  
"We'll definitely need water-related powers to find that crystal." Darien stated. "Amy, maybe you should go too. It is a huge area to search, and the two of you seem like the Scouts for the job."  
"I'll take the pole." Jason stated, catching everyone by surprise. "Somebody has to do it and I honestly believe that's where I can do the most to help."  
"But Jason," Mina protested, a concerned look on her face as she looked into Jason's eyes. "If your powers grow stronger around thriving life, what'll happen when you're forced to fight in a barren wasteland?"  
"I don't care, Mina. We need that crystal to be found and I somehow know I'm supposed to go up there. I... I don't know how I know, I just know I have to go there."  
"Then I'm going with you." Mina stated, taking Jason's hand in her own. "I won't let you do this by yourself, Jason. Please, don't try to convince me not to; I want to go, for your sakes."  
Jason looked at her uncertainly for a minute, then a look of pure admiration came over him.  
"Thanks, Mina. I know I can count on you."  
"Hey, if you two are going, I'm going too." Rei suddenly spoke up. "I mean, we're talking about Antarctica here, land of ice and snow. You're gonna need *somebody* who can make fires and stuff or you'll both freeze to death for nothing. Besides, *somebody's* gotta keep an eye on you two."  
"Rei, ever so trusting." Mina mumbled.  
"The rest of us should probably split up in North America, two or three Scouts to a site in case the Negaverse decides to attack any of them in search of a crystal." Amara stated. "Lita and I'll take the Grand Canyon, and the rest of you can pick and choose as you want."  
"I always wanted to see the Grand Canyon..." Lita sighed.  
"I'll take Niagra Falls." Kevin stated. "It's not likely that the crystal would be hiding in a waterfall, but we do need to cover the area just in case."  
"Darien and I'll head to San Andreas." Serena stated, hugging Darien casually. He smiled in agreement.  
"Pluto and I will search Death Valley." Tasha stated, then looked over to Saturn. "Perhaps it's best if you accompany Sailor Moon and Darien."  
"I'll see if I can't find some leads in Europe." Zack stated.  
"It's decided then." Pluto stood up. "It's best if you all prepare to leave by tomorrow morning as early as possible. Hopefully we will beat Valerra to finding those crystals."  
  
Valerra tapped idly at the control console as her ships scanners searched fruitlessly for the CyberShadow Crystals. Suddenly, a form materialized behind her, his skin a strange mercury-blue and his ArchAngel-like armor a steel color. His eyes were a strange demonic red, and there was absolutely no white to his eyes at all. His blueish/purplish hair was cut in a semi-crewcut and he looked almost human in form, a deception that hid what he truly was and what he stood for. Phalyn silently walked over and tapped Valerra on the shoulder, causing her to jump. She spun around and glared at Phalyn as the demon smirked mischievously.  
"(censored)! Don't do that to me, Phalyn!! You almost gave me a heart attack!" She exclaimed, causing Phalyn to burst out laughing. "Ooh, very funny. I hope you have a good reason for sneaking up on me like that, and it better be one heck of a good reason."  
"As a matter of fact, it is." Phalyn stated, walking aimlessly about the dark control room. "Seems that the Scouts are splitting up and trying to find crystals all over the globe, North America mostly. Oh, and by the way, I think your scan just found something."  
She spun on the coattails of his words and looked at her monitor. Sure enough, her sensors now pinpointed a location in the ocean just west of Australia, a glowing dot of green light pulsing in and out right over the location. She turned around only to find that Phalyn has vanished from sight. 'Typical.' Valerra thought to herself, but then turned her attention back to the screen.  
  
"You'd better hope this works, Phalyn," Zetax admonished. "Because if you and Valerra blunder this up, it'll be your head for sure."  
"Don't threaten me, Zetax!" Phalyn challenged, causing the demons all around Zetax to grab their swords just in case Phalyn made a wrong move. Zetax waved them off bruskly, then locked a glare on Phalyn.  
"I have a good deal of influence with the Council, Phalyn. One wrong move, and you'll pay for it severely, of that you can be sure."  
"You don't need to worry about me, Zetax." Phalyn turned to go. "I haven't failed this assignment yet; you almost have. And don't worry, I don't intend to let those Scouts get a single crystal more, and I will get the entire CyberShadow Crystal, of that you *can* be sure."  
"Talk is cheap, assassin. You get me those crystals, that's priority number 1. Then we'll see if we can't get those Scouts heads brought to Lucifer on a silver platter."  
Phalyn smirked.  
"My pleasure..."  
  
Chapter 12- Some Time Alone  
  
"I've missed you a lot, Mina." Jason said as the two walked towards the nearest pizza restaurant where they'd meet the others. It felt weird to Mina, suddenly having her dream come true only to find out it was no dream to begin with, and now here she was, walking with Jason down the streets of the beautiful city she'd grown up in. The buildings all around twinkled and moonlight filled the night sky. "You've been all I've been thinking about ever since I left to find the CyberShadow Crystals."  
"What are you talking about?" She laughed, teasing him but still blushing from his statement. "You were only gone three or so weeks. You couldn't have missed me that much."  
"Wanna bet?" He laughed back, then sighed and looked off into the night. "You'd be surprise how much you can miss someone you're close with even over just so short a time. It felt like forever..."  
They both sighed, and then a sudden familiar feeling, a kind of deja-vou came over them both at the same time. For a moment, they felt once more like they were on that balcony just before the grand ball, confessing their love to each other and calming each other's fears. In a sudden flash, that moment faded from their minds and they both looked at each other in silent communication. They both smiled, the warmth of memories long-dormant shining in both of their faces.  
"... So..." Jason started. "What's been happening while I was away? Bring me up to speed?"  
She started sharing with him recent events, including her frightful dream. He could see the shadow of fear in her eyes at just the thought of that night, and Jason more than understood it. He'd almost lost two of his friends, not to mention his sister. If Tasha hadn't been able to rescue them from that fall, he didn't want to think about what would have happened.  
"It sounds to me like there was a little... outside intervention involved in all of this, Mina." Jason stated.  
"What do you mean?" She inquired.  
"It seems too well timed not to have been. I mean, think about it. Azurite plots to kill Darien to avenge Malachite, and then you have a dream that not only warns you about that, but also unveils all those memories my sister hid from you. I know she wasn't involved in it... but somebody must have triggered it..."  
" . . . You're right, Jason . . . but who?"  
"Well, in my opinion, the only person who would've known at that point AND was able to warn you just in time would have to been... God."  
He looked at her, afraid he'd upset her, but instead she just had a strange kind of... distant look in her eyes...  
"Jason . . . I know I believed in God during the Silver Millennium . . . I mean . . ."  
"Don't try to find the answers on your own, Mina." Jason reassured, putting a hand on her shoulder. " Honestly, I think the answer's going to find you. But no matter what decision you make, and no matter what happens, know that I'm with you every step of the way, regardless."  
She looked up into his eyes, eyes that spoke of love's truth, and knew he wouldn't leave her to find her way alone.  
  
"Tasha, I was wondering..." Serena asked as the group munched on pizza at the restaurant. All of the Scouts were there with the exception of Sailor Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn. "I always though if Pluto used her Time Freeze attack that she'd die. How come she's been throwing it around lately like it's no big deal, and not even getting hurt from doing it?"  
"Yes, I've been wondering that too." Amy inquired, munching on a bread stick.  
"Actually, you might be surprised by the answer." Tasha replied. "You see, the Sailor Pluto you've met knew all about the dangers of the CyberShadow prophecy, and also knew that she would have to learn to control her Time Freeze safely if she was going to be able to save you all. The Pluto that has decided not to join us for diner tonight is Sailor Pluto from the far far future, and by then she had learned to use Time Freeze safely. It used to be that Time Freeze was so unwieldy that it would freeze all time in the known universe temporarily. That took up far too much power and if Pluto ever did try to freeze all time it's still likely she might die. In the future, she's learned how to simply freeze a small area at a time."  
"Wow!" Lita exclaimed. "That makes sense. I guess I just assumed that it would kill her if she tried to freeze time, period."  
"Guess not." Jason stated. "I wonder what it's like to be able to travel through time..."  
"Probably gets dull after a while." Zack replied.  
"Maybe, but then she can just go back in time to when it was still a thrill and do it all all over again." Jason joked.  
"I guess we're all really worried about tomorrow, huh?" Kevin asked.  
"Why do you say that, Kev?" Zack asked.  
"Because the only time Jason's jokes are ever funny is when I'm really nervous." He joked. "Just kidding, Jason."  
"Well, it is going to be a great undertaking indeed." Tasha stated. "Does everyone have everything they'll need for the trip?"  
"I must have bought more warm clothing than any human being could ever find a use for." Jason stated.  
"I packed my sun screen!" Serena enthused.  
"I figured that, if we needed it, I could probably rent stuff like rock climbing equipment once we get there." Lita stated.  
"Good idea." Amara stated, taking a drink of her Pepsi.  
"Tomorrow marks the start of the real danger zone." Tasha stated. "I can only pray that we'll be ready for what's ahead."  
All the Scouts nodded in agreement.  
  
(To be continued... I know, you really hate me...)  
The characters I own:  
Jason/Sailor (Cyber) Genesis  
Kevin/Sailor (Cyber) Exodus  
Zack/Sailor (Cyber) Apocalypse  
Azurite, the evil Negalord of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Alexis, Negalady of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Seti, ArchAngel warrior  
Namor, heavenly warrior angel  
Mevokra, demonic champ  
Zetax, demonic overlord  
Valerra, master of evil illusions  
  
Concepts I own:  
Imperium Cyber Crystal  
Imperium Darkshadow Crystal  
  
— The title of the next story is 'Divided they Fall'. Tells ya something about the dangers ahead, huh? Let me tell you this: it won't be long before the Negaverse has defeated at least one of the Scouts, maybe permanently. Don't underestimate Valerra: her powers are the most dangerous kind. Cyber Scout fans, the next part of the Saga is not to be missed! Be afraid... be very afraid...  
  
Once again, this is Sailor Revelation, AKA Ryan (da Edge) Edgerton, signing off.---  



	4. Default Chapter Title

Cyber Scouts, Prophecy Saga: part 4  
Divided they Fall  
  
By Ryan Edgerton, author of TEAM REVELATION and CARDCAPTORS: the Realm series.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the Sailor Moon TV show- Serena/Sailor Moon, Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei(sorry if that's not the correct spelling)/Sailor Mars, Lita/Sailor Mercury, Mina/Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Molly, Melvin, and anybody else I forgot to mention. The ArchAngel Shiro belongs to Eternal Studios and the ArchAngels: The Saga comics series, as does the demon assassin Phalyn. I'll make a list of the characters I do own at the end of the fic.  
  
Chapter 13- The Story Continues...  
  
The Sailor and Cyber Scouts had set off on perilous journeys all across the globe, headed for some of the most remote and ancient wonders of the world. Valerra, Negaverse master of the powers of illusion and deception, was not about to let them get a single other crystal. Zetax was growing impatient. Seti and her charge of angels had dispersed all across the globe, making certain each of the journeying Scouts was protected. Events were set into place for a deadly confrontation . . .   
  
"Ready?" Amy inquired. She held the edge of their rented boat as it rocked gently with the pattern of the waves. Clad in tight-fitting scuba suits with all the extra gadgets available, she and Michelle were ready to start their quest for a deep-submerged CyberShadow Crystal.  
"I was born ready. The ocean's like a second home to me." Michelle stated, joining her at the edge and peering down into the deep, crystal-clear waters that almost seemed to glow as she got near them. Michelle could sense things in the waves that few other people could, mostly because her Scout element was that of the ocean. She placed her hand in the water, and like an old friend it greeted her touch with the gentle lapping of it's waves hitting her hand. She smiled gently. "Were you able to make those modifications on our powers?"  
"Luckily, yes." Amy stated, holding her transformation wand ready and handing Michelle hers. "Waterproofed and everything. So long as we hold onto them while we're down there, we should be able to use our powers normally. It'll be interesting, though, to see how our powers operate once we're below the surface."  
Michelle nodded, pulled her diving mask over her face, waited as Amy did likewise, and then with a quick nod the two dove below the surface with a set of small splashes.  
They swam, aided by their scuba gear, deep towards the bottom. The plan was simple: use Amy's scanner to search for the crystal once they were below. Lush, untold worlds of undersea life, filled with coral of every known kind and fish of hundreds of varieties came up to meet them as they descended deep into the heart of the waters. Amy activated her light-blue visor, computer code flashed over it's surface, and then suddenly a blinking white circle appeared. Amy turned in the direction it indicated, and it centered in her visor. She motioned to Michelle, then the two swam off in the direction of the energy signature Amy had picked up. Hopefully it would be the crystal.  
  
They weren't the only ones after the crystal, though. Just above the surface of the waters nearby, Valerra materialized and floated inches above the water. Her V shaped visor flashed with information as a sudden field of black and red energy surrounded her, then faded into blue as she jumped into the air and dove towards the water. She hit the surface like a bullet, crashing through the thin layers of water with a massive splash.  
She pulled herself to a stop somewhere close to ten feet below the surface, her dark blue field still surrounding her and protecting her from the effects of the depths. She switched her visor mode to read off the information her ship's scanners had compiled, and headed straight towards where the crystal lay, leaving a trail of neon blue energy in her wake as she shot effortlessly through the ocean. Nothing would get in her way, and nothing would stop her. Especially not those two dimpy Scouts that were after this crystal. She laughed to herself. With these modifications to her armor, getting that crystal from those two would be like taking candy from a baby...  
  
Michelle felt like she'd come home. The oceans around her teemed with life, and each moment invigorated and amazed her anew. Beautiful coral of many different colors and designs filled the ocean floor not far below where she and Amy swam, creating an amazing maze of nature's artwork through which the ocean's smallest fish and other creatures swam freely, exploring, discovering, experiencing the richness of the ocean's majesty. An angelfish swam past her, brushing her elbow, and somewhere far off she almost thought she though she could hear the songs of humpback whales and the carefree clicks and whistles of dolphins.  
Amy too felt a strange harmony with the ocean around her. She knew she could probably name almost every single species in the reefs just from what her textbooks had taught her, but all of that information suddenly seemed to fade away like sand as she looked all around her as she took in this almost unreal world.  
Suddenly, Michelle sensed something. Something about the ocean's currents gave her a feeling of impending danger... she'd felt this feeling before, she knew it well. The ocean was, in some way, warning her. She pulled out her transformation wand and motioned to Amy that she do the same. Amy nodded in understanding and the two continued on cautiously.  
There was that feeling again, only stronger this time. Suddenly, Amy's scanners went ballistic as a massive energy source registered nearby. Both Scouts immediately went on the alert, their wands ready in their hands. Amy's visor suddenly switched to a grid-line map view of the area around them, tracking the energy source as it got closer and closer to them, traveling at unrealistic speeds through the clear waters.  
Just as suddenly as they'd spotted her she was already right on top of them. Valerra wasn't in the kind of mood to draw out this fight, either, and immediately blasted at the two Scouts with beams of energy from her fists. They dodged, Amy using her Mercury Bubbles to propel her out of the way super-fast, and Michelle evaded with a quick maneuver, using the ocean's powers to help her sidestep the blast. Valerra hovered there in the water, daring the Scouts to take their best shot, which they quickly decided to do. Michelle sent up huge aquatic blasts of sparkling blue energy as Amy tag teamed with her own Aqua Illusion attacks. All the attacks were easily deflected away by Valerra's shield, and she laughed at them in evil triumph.  
"How pitiful! You Scouts aren't that tough!" She mocked, somehow able to communicate underwater. "Isn't it usually times like this where you brats make a big speech and stuff? Oh, I forgot, you can't talk underwater, can you? This I could get used to."  
"Since you're in no position to make a speech, allow me!" Valerra proposed, mimicking Serena's introduction. "I am Valerra, champion of the Negaverse! On behalf of... well... myself, I will wrong rights and triumph easily over puny Sailor Scouts, and that *so* means you two."  
Michelle glared at her in silent disgust.  
"You don't like it? Well, that's your problem, but not for long. Say 'goodnight', Scouts!"  
  
Hovering right behind the Scouts, Shiro and Namor watched in silent frustration as Valerra blasted at the two Scouts with a wide variety of Nega-energy attacks, sometimes hitting dead-on, causing the two angels to clench their fists and force themselves to look away in utter disbelief that they would simply have to let this happen.  
"What's wrong, brothers?" Phalyn mocked, floating just behind Valerra. "Don't you like my little demonstration?"  
"Must we simply stand here and do nothing??" Shiro said in a low voice to Namor. "They're helpless against her, and we are doing nothing to stop this!"  
"We have our orders, Shiro." Namor stated, glaring at Phalyn. "All we can do is wait."  
"Haha! Watching you two helplessly squirm while Valerra crushes those Scouts is so much fun, don't you think?" Phalyn laughed. "We should do this more often."  
"Your hour is coming, deceiver. The wrath of our God will come like a reckoning, and you can be sure of that." Namor stated, an angry tone in his voice.  
  
Michelle suddenly got hit with a kick from Valerra and went down. She just couldn't fight anymore, and even if she could what would be the point if she couldn't damage this villain? Her body drifted weightlessly in the waters as Valerra turned her attention to her one remaining victim. Amy, in desperate hope, used a blast of her Ice Bubbles against Valerra, but it was no use. The orbs of ice simply bounced off Valerra's shield like it was rubber, and Amy suddenly realized there had been no way they could have won this fight to begin with. In one swift motion Valerra made the finishing move, a surge of black electricity exploding off her fists and surrounding Amy with no possible hope to dodge it. The water crackled and frizzed around her, and when the energy died out it was clear Valerra had won. Amy's body drifted along silently, limp and unmoving in the costal waters. Valerra chuckled to herself.  
"That *was* too easy. Well, Scouts, you win some and you lose some. This time, you lose! Now to find that crystal."  
She shot off into the ocean like a torpedo, leaving a trail of blue energy in her wake. The two Scouts drifted aimlessly, almost lifelessly in the waters, their strength drained out of them like blood.  
  
Amy awoke what must have been several hours later. She looked about to find herself, no longer underwater, but instead in a small wooden boat. She looked around and found Michelle laying limply nearby, her scuba mask removed so she could breathe. Amy tried to move, and a sudden wave of pain shot up her body, forcing her to lay down so the pain would go away.  
"So, you're awake."  
She looked in the direction of the voice to find an old man, a paddle in his hands despite the boat's motor, looking over at her from the front of the boat. He smiled kindly, a warmth to his smile that she couldn't ignore catching her attention.  
"Where... where am I?" Amy inquired, this time managing to sit up a little without being overcome by the sharp pain again.  
"You're on my boat, little lady. I found you and your friend floating up at the surface a mile or two from here, figured you were divers in trouble, and pulled you aboard. How you feeling?"  
"Right now... I'm just glad to be alive."  
"You look like you got attacked by a pack of electric eels. What happened to you two?"  
"We were... attacked..."  
"Maybe you'd better just rest now. You can tell me all about it once we get you two to dry land." Then he mumbled to himself "Stupid motor, always gives out when I need it most."  
Amy lay back down, thankful to be alive and thankful for this friendly old man who'd rescued them, and shut her eyes. After a few minutes she began to drift off, recuperative sleep coming to her like a much-needed guardian angel...  
  
"Thank the Holy One; they're alright!" Shiro exclaimed as he and Namor descended upon the boat, landing gently upon it like a pair of feathers. The old man in the front of the boat turned his attention to them, a friendly smile welcoming the two like old friends.  
"Well well, now. If it isn't my angel friends! What can I do ya for, gentlemen?"  
"You've already done us a very big favor, sir." Namor said kindly, squatting down to check on Amy and Michelle.  
"Well, I just do what the good Lord tells me to, that's all." He shrugged. "Hey, you's don't suppose you could do something about this here engine, could'ya? Darn thing breaks down on me constantly."  
Namor looked at Shiro, then the two smiled.  
"Glad to be of service, sir." Shiro said, touching the non-functional motor. With a sudden flash of light the device roared to life, slowly causing the boat to pick up speed.  
"Well, I'll be!" The old man exclaimed, a wide smile on his face. "Ya know, my mechanic could learn a thing or two from you two fellas."  
"Any time, sir." Shiro replied politely, then motioned to the two Scouts. "Take good care of them for us, would you sir? The Lord has important plans for them."  
"The Lord? By golly, you can bet yer halo I'll watch over em'! Thanks for everything!"  
"Same to you!" Namor replied as the two flew off, quickly fading into oblivion. Once they were invisible again, the two came up alongside the boat and floated quietly along with it as it headed towards the mainland. Namor sighed. "It feels good to finally be able to do *something* to help this fight."  
"Amen, Namor," Shiro agreed. "Amen."  
  
Chapter 14- Trouble's Horizon  
  
Valerra looked carefully at the glowing grey crystal in her hands as she stood once more in the freakish command room of her own ship, turning the gem over in her hands as she felt it's powers flowing through her. Well, this one alone didn't provide much power, but it was sufficient enough to surprise her as she felt her own powers grow and amplify by her simple act of holding it. She walked over to a nearby control console and put it down, then gazed at the stars all around her, visible through the main view screen that sat as the centerpiece of her command center. Earth spun far below her, it's wispy white clouds and crystalline deep blue oceans making it a true jewel amongst the cosmos.  
"Soon enough, it'll all be yours."  
She spun to locate the voice and found Phalyn appear from behind a bulkhead. He always did that to her; appearing out from behind objects far too small for him to have hidden behind in the first place. It was almost like those times in cartoons when a person hides behind the skinniest tree around, 'magically' vanishing as they step behind it and doing the same in reverse when they emerge. Phalyn, her liaison of the Negaverse, was truly the only creature who had more illusionary powers than she herself. Sometimes she wondered if he himself wasn't just some kind of complex illusion, or at least deception of some kind.  
"But not without a fight." She noted, looking down at the planet.  
"Of course. In every dimension across every plane of existence my kind as well as humankind have fought for centuries to control planet earth. Tell me you don't honestly think they'll just surrender to you?"  
"Of course not." She returned with a snarl. "Earth, especially this one, has always been a stumbling block for the Negaverse. There's something about this planet that always causes us to lose somehow, even when everything seems to be going our way."  
"But not this time..." Phalyn stated. "This time earth is only a few gems away..."  
"That's what my sister thought, and you remember what that got her." Valerra retorted. " 'Moon dusted', just like the rest of her empire."  
"Beryl was a fool." Phalyn argued. "But you have twice the power she could ever have hoped to have. Nothing can get in your way now, nothing! You remember how easily you 'dusted' those two Scouts at the Barrier Reef; the rest will be no different."  
"True... true..." She thought to herself. "And once I get all of the CyberShadow crystal pieces I'll be powerful enough to redeem my last failure against Team Revelation. Not even their V'clorek stone will stand a chance against CyberShadow power!"  
"And imagine the power of the two stones combined, not to mention the Silver Crystal will soon also be yours for the taking."  
Valerra gave that some thought. She smirked behind her heavy-armor helmet. All three crystals combined would give her immeasurable power. 'I can do a lot of things with immeasurable power...' She thought to herself.  
  
"Well now, you two take care of yourselves!" The old man, by the name of Matthew, said as he waved the two Scouts farewell. "Good luck findin' them crystals!"  
"Thanks for everything!" Amy shouted back. Once they were a good distance away, she turned to Michelle. "We were really lucky Matt came across us like that. Otherwise, I don't want to think of what might have happened to us."  
"He has a good heart." Michelle pointed out. "But he acts a little strange."  
"What do you mean?" Amy inquired.  
"Let me put it this way: he talks to 'angels' in his sleep."  
Amy sighed, her mind filled with thoughts and emotion.  
"Angels, demons, the Negaforce; after everything I've seen as a Scout, almost nothing seems impossible anymore." She stated.  
"Maybe, but I don't think it's likely." Michelle elaborated. "I mean, angels and demons fighting over mankind at the same time as we're fighting the Negaverse? It just seems like a little too much to be possible."  
Behind them, Shiro and Namor sighed sadly, wishing, longing to be able to shine the light of the truth into the two Scouts' minds.  
"If only they knew..." Shiro exclaimed.  
"One day, my brother,... one day." Namor replied.  
"How goes the fight on our other horizons?" Shiro inquired, trying to take his mind off the Scouts.  
"So far things have been quiet, but we expect that Valerra will go after Kevin next."  
"That isn't good. If she defeats him, then she'll have two more CyberShadow crystals, and that'll make her all that much more dangerous."  
"And you can bet Phalyn and Zetax know that just as well as we do, Shiro." He paused, then stated "For the time being, though, our concern should be getting these two back to Tokyo and then we'll regroup with the others."  
"Things don't look good for the Cyber Scouts, Namor." Shiro said, a very concerned look on his face. Namor put his hand on Shiro's shoulder.  
"I know, but there's nothing we can do now. Not yet."  
  
"Excuse me, what's the exchange rate for yen?"  
The customs officer looked up, then almost fell out of his chair in surprise and utter disbelief. In front of him stood a blue-clad warrior with a sword sheathed over his back and a light blue visor over his eyes. Kevin sighed.  
"Y-y-y-y-y..." The man sputtered as Kevin held a handful of yen out to him.  
"Sailor Exodus, I know. Say, you think you could do me a favor?"  
"S-s-s-s-sure!"  
"Could you exchange this money into Canadian for me? Even Cyber Scouts need a place to stay the night."  
  
A few minutes later, Kevin had made his way out of the near-empty customs station and was jumping from rooftop to rooftop in search of a good hotel that wouldn't cost a fortune. Behind him, illuminated by the nightly light show, stood the majestic and powerful Niagra Falls. 'It's useful,' He thought to himself. 'Having global on-the-spot ID as a Scout. Saves time in customs.'  
As his shadowed form leapt silently across the night, one of Valerra's Cyborg soldiers watched him from far away. It's powerful mechanical scanners tracked his every movement and fed the information straight into Valerra's ship's computers. Very similar to Azurite and Alexis's Cyborgs, this one's quad plasma cannons and spider-like legs assured it's superiority over Azurite and Alexis's models.  
Suddenly, Kevin leapt down off of a building. The monster grunted in frustration. It transmitted this information back to it's main relay.  
  
"Hmmm..." Valerra thought to herself. "No matter. I'll defeat this... 'Sailor Exodus' soon enough."  
Her fingers raced over the console in front of her, sending her Cyborg spy it's next set of commands.  
  
Chapter 15- Freedom's Fall  
  
Kevin stepped out into the fresh morning air. Around him, the Canadian city buzzed and bustled with activity, it's focal point being the famous falls that were the city's highlight. He quickly looked around, located the nearest secluded alleyway, and headed for it. It was time for Sailor Exodus to start his search.  
  
Tourists gazed at the falls intently, the splendor and majesty of the natural landmark enrapturing one and all. Some snapped photographs, bought souvenirs, or took the famous boat tour of the astonishing waterfalls. The day was bright, sunny, and humid, a condition that made the vendors and random shops a good deal of money. It seemed like a regular day at Niagra Falls.  
Until suddenly the tourists's attention was diverted away from the falls, the vendors froze in sudden surprise, and everybody on the Maid of the Mist suddenly pointed to where two figures were engaged in life-or-death combat atop the Rainbow Bridge, which spanned high above the Niagra river not far away. One of the combatants was a navy-blue clad warrior in high-tech body armor, his sword glowing with a white light. The other was a Cyborg creature not of this earth.  
The Cyborg blasted at Kevin with it's quad energy cannons, most of the blasts shooting harmlessly into the river below as Kevin darted and dodged, moving incredibly fast for someone high upon a thin bridge's highest conduits and suspension ropes. Several times he came close to falling off the side, but always managed to rebound or catch himself in some way.  
"Ha! Like shooting Scouts in a barrel!" The monster laughed.  
"OK, game time's over!" Kevin was getting visibly peeved at the creature. "Exodus Seismic Quake Explode!"  
The quake shot up out of the bridge's upper supports, sending the Nega-monster flying off of the bridge and into the water far below. It vanished from view, and a few seconds later a small splash was heard as it's mechanical body hit the river's surface. Kevin wiped the sweat from his brow. That battle proved there must be a crystal here, somewhere.  
He suddenly heard clapping behind him, and spun to locate the source.  
Valerra, of course.  
"Not too shabby, Exo." She mocked, then pointed one finger at him as black electricity sparked on her hand. "Goodbye!"  
This time Kevin couldn't dodge fast enough. The beam sent him flying over the edge as Valerra watched and laughed. The air around him seemed to pull him down as he plummeted towards near certain death in the waters below. His body hit the surface and sunk like a stone, water filled his perceived world, and he could almost hear death whispering in his ear as he struggled violently to escape, to breathe, to live.  
'No... it can't end like this... no...!'  
  
"And to think Azurite and Alexis were threatened by a little punk like that." Valerra scoffed, then tossed her hair back as a blue energy field once more surrounded her body. "Now to get that crystal in the caves."  
She shot towards the falls like a falcon, pierced the river's waters just a few dozen feet away from the falls, and vanished underwater with a sudden splash.  
The tourists fell silent. The vendors couldn't believe what they'd seen. For a moment on both sides of the river, all activity seemed to cease as the masses near enough to have seen the battle looked at the river in stunned silence, not wanting to believe what their eyes had seen so clearly. They'd all seen the news about the four mysterious Scouts sighted in Egypt and Mesopotamia, two in each, a mere few days ago. They, in some way or another, understood what had happened.  
Or so they thought.  
From dead-center in the middle of the river, a sudden bubbling began. Suddenly, it was almost like jets of pressurized air were erupting upwards from the river's bottom as the water churned excitedly in a small circle. The circle grew steadily larger, and suddenly in a massive surge of water the river's surface split in two! The crowds watched, transfixed, and it suddenly became clear what was going on as a wind tunnel from where the circle was tore the water between itself and where Valerra had disappeared into two distinct, powerful walls of solid water.  
It had come to Kevin in a shockwave of remembrance. Hydro Force Divide. Now he stood on dry ground at the bottom of the raging Niagra river, a high wall of water on both his right and left, and a clear, dry path ahead of him, leading to an underwater cave that Valerra had vanished through.  
"I hope Moses doesn't get jealous when he find out about this." Kevin thought out loud, then took off for the cave as the walls of water quietly closed a few feet behind him.  
  
Valerra's shadowed form floated silently down the tunnels that made up the legendary Cave of the Winds, a place sealed up for more than fifty years by a rockslide. Originally, the cave's entrance had been behind the American side of the falls, but only Valerra's scanners could have located this other, hidden entrance into the ancient caverns berried deep beneath the river's surface. 'No wonder the crystal came here.' She thought to herself. 'Nobody without MY resources could have found their way in here.' Now, all she had to do was grab the crystal in here, then snatch the one Exodus was carrying and she'd have three out of the seven crystals.  
Suddenly, up ahead, she saw a familiar sparkle. A sparkle she recognized as that of a CyberShadow crystal.  
  
"Hold it right there, Valerra!" Kevin shouted as he rounded a corner. There was Valerra, a CyberShadow crystal in her left hand and her right hand pointed straight at him. He dodged the bolt of energy she threw at him, but was thrown backwards by a blast of black fire from her V-shaped helmet visor. He hit the wall with a thud, the air getting thrown out of him.  
" 'Hold it right there, Valerra!' How many times have I heard that one? You Scouts need to get some new lines." She mocked, then aimed the crystal square at him. "Not that that'll make much difference for you now, Exodus. Send my regards to God."  
A overwhelming black brilliance consumed Kevin's world, assaulting him with it's unearthly power.  
  
When a Scout dies or is defeated beyond resistance, a silent call goes out through all the universe. Only other Scouts or those with special powers can hear it. It is not the sound of a death scream, or any of the other sounds so many would acquaint with death. Rather, it is as if a snapshot of that Scouts soul is broadcast to the minds of all who can perceive it.  
At that moment, all across planet earth, every Scout of every kind in existence heard the sound of Kevin's soul, his heart's cry echoing silently all across the galaxy in a matter of mere minutes...  
In Antarctica, Jason, Mina, and Rei suddenly looked up as the sound hit their minds with such clarity that, for a moment in time, the raging winds of barren snow all around them dropped out of existence. Once it had faded from their minds, Jason suddenly dropped to his knees, fearful and shaken, the hood of his heavy winter coat falling off onto his shoulders. Mina immediately rushed over to him and looked into his face, trying to determine just what had happened while at the same time not wanting to believe what she herself had heard.  
"That was Kevin's voice... I know this feeling... what does it mean, Mina?"  
She hesitated, glanced at Rei, then kneeled next to Jason with her hand on his shoulder as he began to pray fervently, tears slowly pushing their way out of his eyes and down his cheeks. Even Rei looked sympathetically at Jason. They had all heard the same thing, and they all knew what this feeling meant.  
Halfway across the world, Serena and Darien heard the sound as well. For a moment they just stood there, stunned, as tourists walked past them on both sides with no idea of what had occurred. Suddenly snapping out of it, panic stricken, Serena instantly grabbed for her communicator.  
It all happened the similarly for Lita and Amara, Amy and Michelle, Tasha and Pluto, even Luna and Artemis. Even Valerra heard it clear as day, and at first it surprised her. Regardless, though, she quickly snatched up the other CyberShadow Crystal and, after a second glance at the limp Kevin she'd blasted up against the cave wall, teleported both herself and the limp body away.  
Zetax and Seti were among the few who heard clearest of all. Perhaps, though, that was because the call was a statement they both knew by heart, one that enraged Zetax and put the fear of God into Seti.  
"...The Lord will fight for you..."  
  
High atop the city rooftops of Tokyo, a cloaked figure silently listened as he too heard the sound. His piercing white cloak hid his body and cast shadows down his face as it flapped gently in the cold night winds. He listened with an attentive mind, and even after the sound faded he stood there, silent, mysterious. With a slow distortion of reality he phased out of being, vanishing slowly like as if he were a mere illusion. But he was not. Indeed human, the figure's fleeting form suddenly blinked out of existence as a sudden gust of cold wind flapped his hood and cape aside, only a fleeting glimpse of his face visible before he disappeared...  
  
(To be continued... I know, you really hate me this time...)  
The characters I own, UPDATED AT LAST:  
Jason/Sailor (Cyber) Genesis  
Kevin/Sailor (Cyber) Exodus  
Zack/Sailor (Cyber) Apocalypse  
Azurite, the evil Negalord of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Alexis, Negalady of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Seti, ArchAngel warrior  
Namor, heavenly warrior angel  
Mevokra, demonic champ  
Zetax, demonic overlord  
Valerra, master of evil illusions  
Tasha/ Sailor Nebula  
That mysterious guy (Sorry, the name's a secret)  
  
Concepts I own:  
Imperium Cyber Crystal  
Imperium Darkshadow Crystal  
CyberShadow crystals  
  
— Exciting, huh? I betcha I know what you're thinking. You're thinking 'I can't wait for the next story so I can find out about that new character!' or maybe 'I know who that is! It's (you fill in the name here)'. Sorry! Either way, you'd be in error. You won't be finding out who the mysterious guy in white is *for real* during this fic series, and he's not any of the characters from any SMoon show or fanfic anywhere. He's not the Spirit, he's not part of the Trinity, and he hasn't made an appearance in any of my fanfics as of this date.(8/23/2000) He may eventually be revealed in one of my future fic serieses, but I won't guarantee that.  
At any rate, I bet you'd never think I'd have one of my characters die/lose, did'ya? One thing you should know about me is that I'm full of surprises, and there's a boatload more where that came from! Sorry, no previews, though. You'll just have to wait for the next story! (Now I KNOW you hate me!)  
As usual, this is Sailor/Cyber Revelation, signing off!--- 


	5. Default Chapter Title

Cyber Scouts, Prophecy Saga: part 5  
Prophecy's End  
  
By Ryan Edgerton, author of TEAM REVELATION and CARDCAPTORS: the Realm series.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the Sailor Moon TV show- Serena/Sailor Moon, Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei(sorry if that's not the correct spelling)/Sailor Mars, Lita/Sailor Mercury, Mina/Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Molly, Melvin, and anybody else I forgot to mention. The ArchAngel Shiro belongs to Eternal Studios and the ArchAngels: The Saga comics series, as does the demon assassin Phalyn. I'll make a list of the characters I do own at the end of the fic, as per usual.  
  
Chapter 16- Powers of the Air  
  
Jason felt as if someone had put his soul through a blender. He didn't know what to think. He had no idea where to turn. Emotions tugged at his heart with such force that he thought he could simply collapse and die any moment.  
Kevin was gone. That much he knew.  
He hated the Negaforce, he hated it and despised it with every living part of his being, every fiber of his humanity and every inch of his soul. It's minions had destroyed his friend and fellow Cyber Scout, and he would not give them the chance to do so again. Even if it cost him his own life.  
Mina looked over at him. She had never seen Jason so shook up, so defeated, so...  
She couldn't even think of the words to describe what she now saw in his eyes. Once those eyes had harbored nothing but love's truth. Now, those eyes contained sorrow, grief, immeasurable feelings she couldn't even begin to comprehend.  
"...and no matter what happens, know that I'm with you every step of the way, regardless." He had said to her once. Now, as the three dragged themselves across the frozen wasteland towards the very top of the world, she knew that she would need to be with him, upholding him, helping him make it through...  
...no matter what happened, going with him every step of the way, regardless.  
  
Valerra's spaceship was beginning to feel crowded. First, because of the large tanks filled with transparent black water-like liquid she'd had moved into the control center, in one of which now floated the body of the fallen Sailor Exodus. Second, because Azurite and Alexis had demanded to be teleported up onto the ship, and now stood next to her, glaring mockingly at the fallen Scout that had caused them so much trouble. Third, because Phalyn and the other six members of the Vrakil had also decided to show up for what had quickly become an exhibition. With so many people and... others... all in the same room, she longed for a little privacy.  
"At long last." Phalyn laughed. "I knew it would only be a matter of time."  
"What I want to know," Alexis probed. "Is why you're keeping him alive."  
"We should shish kabob the little runt." Azurite suggested.  
"This, of course, would be where my significantly-larger-than-yours-brain comes in handy, commoners." Valerra scoffed. "Even without his Cyber powers, a Scout is known for having significantly more energy to be drained and cultivated than your average human being. This Cyber Scout, though, has almost 20x the usual amount of power stored up inside him, and that's a significant power source."  
"What's so special about him?" Azurite questioned.  
"His pure heart crystal." Phalyn interjected. Then he turned to Valerra with a surprisingly serious look on his face. "Keep him around if you want, but make sure that crystal doesn't get a chance to use it's powers. If you keep him unconscious, he shouldn't be a threat."  
"He's of no threat to begin with. Not any more." Valerra stated, holding in her hands three CyberShadow crystals.  
  
Zack had been one of the last to hear the sound of Kevin's defeat. It had at first shocked him beyond what he could understand, but now he lay on the bed of his sparse one-room hotel room, crying and praying at the same time. Behind him, two angelic guardians stood sentry, their swords ready at their sides. One wore highly reflective gold armor and had a headband around his forehead, a pair of golden wings arched out of it in a V shape. His white hair, well trimmed beard and mustache, and regal brown eyes gave him the look of an old man, but his muscles and the double-edged well-crafted sword he carried spoke of anything but the feebleness that comes with old age. The warrior next to him had piercing blue armor, similar colored blue eyes, and semi-long brown hair that came to a stop around his shoulders. The hilt of his sword was designed as a pair of long, sapphire-blue angelic wings arched outwards similarly to his companion's headband, and the blade seemed to glow with a soft white power like electricity.  
"His prayers will strengthen Kevin, right Kai?" The blue-clad warrior inquired.  
"Indeed, Cameron, but without the knowledge of his pure heart crystal, his chances of escape are few." He placed his hand on Cameron's shoulder. "Fear not; the time of God's vengence isn't far now."  
"Yes, but what will be lost between then and now is what concerns me. What if something goes wrong?"  
Kai was silent for a long moment, then turned to go.  
"Then all will be lost."  
They gazed out the window of the hotel room, looking out over the European city and seeing only as angels can. Swarms of darkness had descended upon the city of London, the same mass of evil that had been following Zack ever since he departed from Tokyo. Kai and Cameron were not alone, however, but their forces within the city had gone into hiding, like snipers preparing for the kill. When the time came...  
... but it was not they who would decide the turn of the battle. Almost everything was in the hands of the Scouts at this point.  
  
Demons weren't the only evil forces at work within the city. Flying like a pack of dragonflies, four figures shot through the air over London, their minds set on destruction. Transparent wings jutted out of their backs and their arms were tinted a plant-like green. Their vampire-like teeth and blood-red eyes assured upon first glance that these were battle-hardened predators with strength and power to burn. Their muscular feminine bodies only served to hide what they really truly were: creatures from another universe who's soul purpose was to seek out their enemies and crush them.  
"Now to bring that brat out into the open." The lead one instructed. The Doom and Gloom Girls behind her all swerved off in different directions, their eyes glowing with dark power as they blasted away at the city below.  
Zack's silent pleading with God was suddenly and abruptly interrupted as a sound like an explosion reached his ears. He jumped off the bed and dashed over to the window, immediately spotting the four creatures responsible for the disturbance. In a heartbeat he had his CyberShadow crystal in his hand as silver energy surrounded his body.  
  
Chapter 17- Another One Falls  
  
The D&G Girls zipped through the air high above London, raining random destruction down upon the city. Explosions rocked the ground as beams of green and black energy poured down on the city like spears.  
"He should have showed up by now." The leader mumbled, looking out over the occurring devastation as people fled in terror. "What's taking that squirt so long..."  
"...Actually, knowing the Scouts, he'll probably show up right about-"  
As if on cue, which it kinda was, a sudden humanoid-shaped blast of black and white energy shot through the air, headed for the lead Girl. She dodged the attack as if she'd expected it, and the blast suddenly changed course and landed on a nearby rooftop. The energy vanished into the warrior's sword as Zack got ready for a fight. The D&G Girls darted into formation alongside their leader.  
"You wanted a fight, you've come to the right place, Nega-scourge! You're gonna pay for what you did to Exodus!" Zack challenged as his sword glowed with electric-like power.  
"Ooh, the Scout misses his friend..." The leader mocked. "Don't worry, kid, cuz' you're about to join him!"  
"Apocalypse Specter Strike!" Zack shouted as he transformed back into energy and shot at the Girls like a comet.  
"Just how dense do you think we are?" One of the four scoffed as the swarm easily dodged the attack. The moment Zack landed, three sets of vine-arms whipped all around him, wrapping him hopelessly up in the mass of vegetation.  
"Nice effort, but you're no challenge to beat, Apocalypse." The lead mocked as Zack struggled against the vines, black and white energy bouncing near-harmlessly off the vines as his energy was sucked out of him at an alarming rate. The leader of the Girls pointed one open hand at Zack as green energy surged around her arm in circles, becoming an orb in the palm of her hand. "Say 'hi' to Exodus for me."  
  
Three figures trudged haphazardly across the icy tundra, the elements daunting them and urgency leading them onward despite. Jason shivered under his heavy coat as his teeth clattered together, his skin a slight blue tint and his lips the color of thick ice. Suddenly, his legs gave out underneath him and he collapsed to the ground, his hood falling off as his face hit the jagged, frostbitten snow. Mina heard him fall and rushed immediately to his side, small strands of her hair whipping in her face as the icy winds beat down.  
"Jason? Are you alright?"  
"It's... it's so cold... I-I don't think I can go... any further..."  
"You have to, Jason! You can do this! We'll do this, together." She paused for a second, putting her hand on his shoulder. "...Do it for Kevin... and for me."  
Jason breathed in deep, pulled his hood up, and with Mina's help got to his feet once more as Rei watched a few feet away. 'He's a real trooper, I'll give him that.' Rei thought to herself as the others rejoined her.  
No sooner had they taken a few steps more...  
... than the sound of destiny gone terribly wrong hit all of their minds.  
"...No weapon formed against you shall prosper..."  
  
Valerra was one of the few who heard the sound and was also expecting it. Hovering a good mile or so away from where the short battle had raged only moments ago, floating high above the city like some kind of living curse, she held in her hand yet another CyberShadow Crystal as it glowed with it's strange mix of light and darkness.  
"Two down, one to go."  
  
"...Oh no... no no no! God, not again! Lord, say it's not so!" Jason exclaimed as once more he dropped to his knees, not another ounce of strength left in him. He lay there face down in the snow, tears running out of his eyes and hitting the snow already half frozen. Mina and Rei rushed to his sides, also visibly shaken by the sound that spelled Zack's defeat against the Negaverse. Jason wept out loud, pleading with God, begging, grieving... " . . . Jesus,... why have you forsaken me...?"  
Something about that statement suddenly struck a cord in Rei's heart. A tear slowly started to form in her eyes as Jason and Mina cried together. Reluctantly hesitating at first, she put her hand on Jason's shoulder. He looked up at her in semi-surprised uncertainty.  
"...Jason..., for what it's worth . . . I hope your God pulls through for you."  
Jason starred at her in almost utter disbelief, tears still staining his cheeks as fresh ones filled his eyes. Rei smiled weakly at him from behind her heavy winter coat. Jason nodded, looked at Mina, and, with a strange fire in his eyes, got to his feet.  
"You're right, Rei. Thanks." He said, holding out his hand. With a second or so's hesitation, she shook it. Mina got to her feet and Jason turned to her. "We've gotta go on. We can't let Valerra get a single other crystal. We can't let Kevin and Zack have died in vain. We've gotta make our stand and show Valerra that, no matter what she does to us, we will not be afraid nor surrender."  
Mina nodded, followed by Rei.  
"C'mon, let's go." Rei proposed, and the three soldiers of destiny set out once again.  
  
Invisible behind them, a transcendent Spirit stood and watched as the three vanished into the white winds of the snowy desolation that stretched to the horizon in every direction. Next to Him, a white cloaked figure who'd been invisible during the entire course of events also stood in silence, observing with eyes keenly attuned to what had occurred.  
A good few feet away from both, Zetax grumbled in silent disgust. The white figure turned to face the demon overlord.  
"Your test has succeeded in proving only one thing, O fallen one." The figure stated, his ancient voice having a heavy Hebrew accent. He turned away from Zetax to gaze into the distance once more. "Jason's faith is strong, stronger even than your evil ways. And what is more, *you* have prepared the soil of Rei's heart for Truth."  
"Her heart's 'soil' still belongs to me, human. Don't you forget it." Zetax retorted. " As for your precious warrior, you have not yet begun to see what my servants will inflict on him."  
"It shall be unto him as it was unto the Lord's servant, Job." The Spirit turned to Zetax, causing the demon to have to shield his eyes with the brightness of the Spirit's light. The Spirit pointed one finger at the demon as His tone turned very serious. "You may do to him what you wish, but you shall not take his life. Not yet."  
  
"Quite a collection you've got going here, Valerra." Phalyn mused as he scratched his chin, looking intently at the two Cyber Scouts that filled two of the three prepared tanks. "Not quite complete yet, but I suppose..."  
"Don't get cocky with me, Phalyn." Valerra said, disgust showing in her voice. She wasn't in much of a mood for jokes today. "You haven't done a single thing to help since I got here, so you've got no right to be scoffing at my trophies."  
"Oh, not a thing, huh?" He laughed, then grew very serious. "You want me to help in your little fight? Fine. But not yet."  
"And why (censored) not?!" She inquired, particularly annoyed. Phalyn shrugged.  
"I have my reasons. However, I do have some information that could be useful to you."  
"This had better be good. Not bad enough I've had Azurite and his girlfriend on my back all day..." She grumbled.  
"Oh, believe me, you should find this quite to your liking..."  
  
Chapter 18- Contemplations  
  
Daytime was quickly drawing to a close as Jason, Mina, and Rei completed their icy shelter for the night: a cave they'd built into an enclosure in the basic shape of a bubble. For the first time in hours, the three were relieved to be rid of the sting of the snowy winds despite their icy campsite. They unpacked their backpacks and each got out a few 'fire in a can' containers, which Rei gladly lit, and each sat down to their rations of various canned foods.  
Rei picked at her tuna fish as she thought to herself for a long time. That feeling she'd gotten when Jason said 'Jesus, why have you forsaken me?', she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she didn't like Jason, so she could exclude attraction from her list of possibilities. I mean, the guy had tried to make her believe she'd been possessed and was trying to kill Darien at one point. She still didn't know what to make of that, either. She forced herself to focus. Pity? Well, it was the closest thing she could think of that fit the description. She chewed a mouthful of tuna fish. Now onto question two: what was that weird feeling she'd gotten right after that?  
Rei wasn't as much an alien to Christianity as she may have led Jason to think. Fact was, she went to a catholic private school whenever she wasn't busy working up at the temple. One thing she'd learned while she was up there, though, was that almost every other 'Christian' religion was intolerant and stubbornly stuck in their ways. That's why she much preferred the catholic school. It didn't have the strictness of public school, and there was no way she'd ever be caught dead in any other 'Christian' private school for as long as she lived. The catholic school actually reminded her a lot of her own temple. The ornate architecture, the many statues, people bowing down at a statue of Mary with such religious reverence and quietness, the robes the workers wore when preparing for services, the repetitive, soothing, non-challenging all-accepting atmosphere . . .   
. . . but something suddenly brought that statue of Mary to her mind again...  
... it was a verse she remembered flipping to absent-mindedly one day while the teacher was out of the room...  
... she couldn't remember the exact chapter or verse, but what she did remember startled her anew.  
'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;  
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.'  
She couldn't believe what was ringing through her mind. There was no way she could have remembered it so completely; she'd just glanced at it for a minute that day before the teacher came back into the room. A shocked expression came over her, but realizing that Jason and Mina might see she quickly composed herself. She took another spoonful of tuna fish, acting as if nothing had happened.  
The meaning was frighteningly clear to her. Do not bow to idols. Suddenly, she felt embarrassed, even afraid, and she couldn't understand why.  
  
Just behind her, invisible like a spirit, the cloaked figure stood. He nodded in silent approval.  
"Seek, and you will find the answers, Rei. The truth shall set you free."  
  
The north pole, the acclaimed 'top of the world'. Here, where ice and snow reigned with such ferocity that few human beings had ever successfully made it here alive, a black figure suddenly materialized amid the raging walls of wind and snowy fury.  
Valerra looked slowly to her left, then right, letting her visor's scanners do the hard work for her. When even that proved useless at penetrating the thick white whirlwinds, she switched strategies and combined her scanners with those of her ship, boosting power to her own scanners for just a split second. That split second proved to be enough. A small white dot appeared on a map in the corner of her visor. Without a word, she dashed off in that direction, cutting through the winds like a bullet.  
  
Meanwhile, halfway across the world, Tasha and Pluto stood nervously in the midst of a scorching hot valley, sweat dripping rampantly off both of their foreheads so much so that it had soaked their Scout uniforms in a few places. Suddenly, Tasha stopped and looked at Pluto.  
"It's all coming to a climax; the prophecy has almost run it's course."  
Pluto looked semi-surprised at her companion.  
"What makes you think that?"  
"Think about it. First Kevin, then Zack." She sighed as her voice suddenly became a whisper. "I can only pray that Jason isn't next." She looked over at Pluto once more. "Valerra has, at a minimum, two CyberShadow crystals, but it's more likely she already has five or six of them. I fear for Jason's life; soon enough, he may be the only one standing between her and the final crystal."  
Pluto put a hand on her companion's shoulder.  
"Jason is strong, both as a Scout and strong at heart. If anyone can prevent Valerra from getting the final crystal, it's him."  
"Jason is no more powerful than Kevin and Zack were, and I fear he may even have added weaknesses Valerra can use against him."  
"Mina, correct?"  
Tasha nodded.  
"I take it we've both seen the look in their eyes whenever they're together." Tasha stated. "They're strength to each other, like two strong pillars of a building. Together, they can do incredible things, but..."  
"If you take away one pillar,..."  
Tasha nodded, then wiped the sweat from her brow.  
"That's why I cannot allow Valerra to destroy Jason, or Mina. There's much more than simply the fate of earth at stake here."  
"You make that sound like such a small thing." Pluto mused, then grew serious. "What do you intend to do about it?"  
"... The time will come where I'll have to face Valerra on my own and finish what I began a long time ago. For now, though, there's nothing I can do to protect Jason. It's in God's hands."  
"You're going to face her, on your own?" Pluto couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Tasha, don't be a fool! If Valerra defeated you once before *without* the CyberShadow Crystals, imagine what she's capable of now!"  
"Which is why I have to destroy her... and all the CyberShadow Crystals all at once."  
"You can't be serious!"  
"I cannot allow that kind of power to fall into Chaos's hands. I will do what I must to protect Jason, and the others."  
"Tasha, going up against Valerra like that is suicide!"  
"... I know, I know."  
  
Phalyn and Zetax stood sentinel, the arctic winds blowing straight through the two foul spirits. Nearby, a set of marker flags marked off the very most northern part of the world, their many colors whipped violently in the wind. Exactly opposite the demonic duo, Seti and Namor stood sentry as well. Neither side made a move towards the flags, despite what all four knew was buried there. Strange grey light pulsed rhythmically not far beneath the snow.  
"So, Zetax," Phalyn inquired, still glaring at the two angels opposite him. "Any... *big plans* for once we have all those crystals?"  
"I was thinking along the lines of having a big dinner party, the main course being angel  
shish kabob." He laughed, running his thumb along the flat of one of his sword's blades.  
"You laugh now, but we don't need crystals to defeat the likes of you." Namor challenged.  
"We shall see, angel, we shall see." Zetax scoffed.  
"Speaking of seeing, I spy a black blur headed our way." Phalyn laughed. "For once, Valerra's early. Looks like another crystal belongs to us, angels. See ya!"  
With a sudden flash of neon-red fire, Phalyn and Zetax vanished, leaving the two ArchAngels alone on the snowy plateau.  
"How much longer must we endure this?" Namor grumbled, cracking his knuckles. "You have no idea how badly I want to take that smirk of Phalyn's and shove it down his throat."  
"Trust me, Namor, the feeling's mutual." Seti replied. "Come, let us rejoin the others."  
  
Chapter 19- Love's Tribulations  
  
Jason, Rei, and Mina set out again early the next morning. The winds had died down significantly and the sunrise reflected off the snow into a million brilliant colors. For the first time since Kevin had fallen, Jason felt at peace. The scene, while desolate, was truly breathtaking; incredible oranges, reds, pinks, warmly-toned blues, and everything in-between cascading off the snow like as if off a million mirrors. Jason sighed, then looked over at Mina as the group walked tirelessly on. She, and Rei, had been so much of a strength to him that he honestly believed he'd never have made it this far on his own. Especially Mina. She was always there for him, whether or not she knew it. Even deep in the Amazon, when he'd been totally alone for almost two weeks, she'd been there for him. In his mind, Jason couldn't help but wonder...  
... 'is this true love'?  
"Mina," He started, turning to face her as they walked. "Thanks for everything. I couldn't have done this without you."  
"Thanks, Jason." She replied politely.  
"No, seriously." He added. "I honestly couldn't have made it this far without you being there for me."  
"Oh, it's nothing." She looked away, blushing. Then she sighed, semi-sadly. "I just hope I'll be strong enough to make it the rest of the way."  
"Why would you think you wouldn't?" Jason inquired.  
"Jason, you've saved my life twice already, and I owe you so much for that. I... I guess I'm just afraid that, when it comes down to it, I won't be strong enough to save your life."  
"I understand what you mean." Jason sighed. "Valerra's already gotten Kevin and Zack, and soon she'll come after me. But Mina," He took her hand in both of his. "You've got to believe in yourself. You saved my life once before, remember?"  
"Jason, all I did was warn you that Azurite was behind you. Anybody could've done that." She stated.  
"Mina," He looked at her with caring firmness in his voice. "The Bible says that, amongst faith, hope, and love, love is the strongest of all of them. I know how powerful faith is, and I couldn't find the strength to go on without hope. You're the Sailor Scout of love, Mina. You have powers within you that you don't even know you have. If anyone can win this fight, it's you. You've got to believe me when I say that; I mean that from every part of my heart."  
Tears filled her eyes as she smiled at him, the truth of his words filling her heart.  
No sooner had she opened her mouth to respond, though, than a beam of black energy from Jason's far left shot out of nowhere and scored a clean hit on him, throwing him a good dozen or so feet. Mina rushed over to him as a shadowed figure emerged from amidst the snowy tundra.  
"You!" Mina shouted as Valerra stepped onto the scene. "How dare you!"  
"Aw, little Ms. love Scout's mad at me for hurting her hubby." Valerra mocked. "We'll just see how powerful you are, termite breath."  
"Leave her out of this, creep!" Jason shouted, standing to his feet and drawing his Scout sword. "It's me you want, not them."  
"For once, 'Bible boy' has a clue; amazing! I guess miracles do happen." Valerra mused.  
"You may have taken out the other Cyber Scouts," Rei challenged, joining at Mina's side. "But this time you're outnumbered."  
"Am I now?" Valerra laughed. "I haven't gotten a chance to show you Scouts my powers of illusion yet, have I?"  
"We're not impressed!" Mina exclaimed.  
"Oh, but you haven't even given me a chance to show off yet." Valerra retorted, black energy surrounding her body. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, six Valerras stood where a minute ago there'd been only one. With yet another flash of darkness there were suddenly twelve of them, then 36, forming a small army. "Not too shabby, huh?"  
"Don't get distracted, Scouts; use wide-range attacks and her illusion won't do her any good!" Jason instructed.  
"Uh oh, the twerp thinks he's got me all figured out. Whatever am I gonna do now?" The real Valerra laughed from somewhere within the pack. "Kid, you have not yet *begun* to see what I'm capable of!"  
"Mars Celestial Fire Surround!" Rei shouted, rings of fire momentarily encircling her before shooting outwards at Valerra's army of illusions. The illusions dodged and Rei's attack hit the snow with a massive cloud of vapor.  
"Venus Love Chain Encircle!" Mina added, scoring direct hits on only a few of the holograms, causing them to disappear.  
"Genesis Bio-Storm Surround!"  
No sooner had Jason launched his attack, though, than the energy of his sword suddenly sputtered and phased out. Valerra laughed like it was the first joke she'd ever heard.  
"What a weakling! He doesn't even have enough power for his own attacks!" She laughed, then the swarm of copies all aimed their hands right at Jason as black energy surged on each one's arm. "Works for me, though. Game over, Genesis!"  
Jason couldn't move fast enough. The barrage of beams came flying at the group like a solid wall, almost all of them passing straight through the Scouts because they were illusions, but one from the very center of the storm hit Jason with such force that it threw him backwards into the snow. No sooner had Jason stopped moving than Valerra was suddenly right next to him, snatching the crystal right out of his pocket. Mina aimed a roundhouse kick at her, but she teleported away in the blink of an eye, reappearing high in the air about six feet away.  
"She's got the crystal!" Rei exclaimed.  
"No duh, and with this one final piece," She laughed maniacally as the other six crystals appeared with a flash in her hands. "The full CyberShadow Crystal belongs to ME!"  
Upon touching each other, the small, marble-like crystals suddenly began to glow much brighter. With a sudden flash like a supernova going off, half of the flash light and half dark, the crystals fused, once more taking on the hexagonal shape of the CyberShadow Crystal. A sudden surge of black energy began running through Valerra's body as she held the crystal, the gem's powers pulsing through her.  
"Venus Love Chain Encircle!"  
"Mars Celestial Fire Surround!"  
A sudden black shield exploded into being as the attacks harmlessly deflected off the invisible barrier. Valerra laughed a bloodcurdling, evil laugh as she aimed the crystal straight at the three Scouts.  
"Time to test this thing out. It's the end of the road for you Scouts!"  
  
Chapter 20- A Voice  
Evil power quickly built within the crystal as Valerra prepared to once and for all eliminate the three Scouts. Jason and the others looked on in horror as a massive beam of black energy surged out of the crystal's core, headed straight at them.  
Then God Himself seemed to step in.  
Jason dared not believe what he was seeing as a tall, white-cloaked figure suddenly darted in-between them and the beam, pulling his cloak forward as a shield. The beam hit, then reflected easily off what seemed to be completely normal fabric. Somewhere behind all that techno-armor, Valerra gasped in surprise.  
The figure glared at Valerra from beneath the hood of his long, flowing cloak, a look so powerful that it seemed to cause Valerra to shudder for a moment.  
"Who are you?" Valerra exclaimed, giving voice to the question that was on all of their minds.  
"I am one who is here to prevent you from harming these Scouts." The figure responded cryptically, a heavy Hebrew accent in his voice.  
"I asked you a question, punk. Who are you??" Valerra probed, suddenly getting her nerve back.  
"... I am ...the voice of one crying out in the wilderness 'prepare the way'." The figure replied cryptically once more.  
"If you don't give me a straight answer, I'll blast your brains out." Valerra threatened.  
"You wish." He replied. "It is not within your power to be able to destroy me."  
"Let's just find out, shall we?" Valerra scoffed, already charging up the crystal for another attack.  
The figure raised a solitary finger and pointed at Valerra.  
Within the time it takes for a split second to be born, a sudden lightning bolt shot out of the sky, drilling Valerra with such power that it sent her straight through the icy ground into the water deep below. Rei, Jason, and Mina's jaws dropped. Whoever this person was, he had incredible power!  
The figure turned to Jason, his eyes hidden beneath the shadow of his hood. Jason tried to stand to address the figure, but a sudden spear of pain hit him like a shockwave, causing him to collapse to the ground in pain. Mina immediately rushed over to his side.  
"The wound is deep, but he will live if you can get him medical attention." The cloaked phantom stated, then turned around like as if he'd head a sound.  
Suddenly, a massive explosion shot up through the ice, sending shards flying everywhere. The figure shielded the Scouts with his cloak as Valerra burst into being from in the midst of the icy comet. She wasted no time, leveling a massive blast of black fire at the figure as she screamed in rage. Like as if the very ice was alive, a sudden wall of arctic tundra shot up between the warrior and the blast of negative energy, the fireball striking the ice with a massive rush of vapor and steam. The ice returned to the ground as the figure addressed his challenger.  
"I can keep this up as long as you continue to fight, servant of darkness. Return to your spaceship; it is not yet your appointed time."  
Behind her visor, Valerra looked at him with wide-eyed surprise. She clenched her open fist and suddenly vanished in a flash of black fire.  
The mysterious figure nodded, then slowly vanished from existence, his body fading away as if all he had ever been was a mirage.  
  
Back in Tokyo, Seti, Cameron, Kai, Namor, Dareus, and Shiro stood upon a high tower, overlooking the city with great concern. Invisible to human eyes, the city swarmed with demon warriors and warlords going about causing as much havoc and destruction and perversion as they could find it within their powers to do so. The sound of evil rang throughout the city with such intensity that Seti almost thought she could hear Zetax laughing.  
Suddenly, that sound became much clearer. All six angels spun around instantly as Zetax materialized on the roof, laughing like a hyena. The angels drew their swords, but Zetax made no move to confront them.  
"What do you want?" Shiro challenged, a holy anger beginning to burn inside him.  
"You angels, ever so persistent." He laughed. "Do you actually think there's a thing you can do to stop us now? We possess the full CyberShadow Crystal, and now we're taking over this city once and for all."  
"We will remain here, until our purpose is fulfilled." Kai retorted.  
"The only purpose you can fulfill now is as target practice for my generals, you stupid fools. Where is your mighty army? My warriors walk freely through this city, causing destruction unopposed. Where are your champions? I see only you six warriors; a mere handful compared to the numbers I saw only a few measly days ago. Your strength is gone, your human champions are dropping like flies, and all you clowns can do is stand up here and watch! Where is the famous 'strength' of the hosts of heaven? Where is it now?"  
"We will remain here, until our purpose is fulfilled." Kai replied.  
"You sound like a broken record, Kai. Surely this is not the 'might warrior' who prevented me once from killing Prince Darien! No, that warrior fought with strength and never turned away from the heat of battle." He mocked. "You're nothing but a shell now, O commander of angels."  
"We will remain." Dareus replied.  
"We shall see how long you 'remain', angels. We shall see..."  
  
The remnant of the Sailor Scouts was already gathered in Tokyo, waiting anxiously for the return of Jason, Mina, Rei, Pluto, and Tasha. Serena kept on fidgeting and had a nervous look on her face. Michelle kept on talking about the fact that something was going terribly wrong in the ocean, and she couldn't ignore it no matter how hard she tried. Amy kept on trying to get through to Rei or Mina on the communicators, but so far she'd had no luck. Darien, his wounds bandaged from his fight against Azurite almost a week ago now, couldn't help but notice how nervous and... afraid Serena looked.  
"Serena, is everything alright?" He inquired, sitting down next to her.  
"How can anything be alright at a time like this?" She responded, cradling her locket in her hands. "Kevin and Zack are dead. Valerra has the CyberShadow crystals, I can feel it. The Doom and Gloom Girls are back. Oh Darien, it's my worst nightmare all over again..."  
"What do you mean, Serena?" Darien inquired.  
"You probably don't remember; you were under Beryl's control when it happened." She replied, then went on to tell him the story of how she and the Scouts had headed off to face Beryl almost a year ago, of how one by one all of her friends were torn away from her until it was only her and Beryl. "I... I don't think I could go through with it again if I had to, Darien. I... I've never forgotten how alone I was, how weak I felt, how powerless I was to rescue them as one by one..." She couldn't go on anymore and burst into tears. "...And now it's all happening again, and I don't know if I can win this time..."  
  
  
(To be continued... dontcha just love cliffhangers?)  
The characters I own, UPDATED AT LAST:  
Jason/Sailor (Cyber) Genesis  
Kevin/Sailor (Cyber) Exodus  
Zack/Sailor (Cyber) Apocalypse  
Azurite, the evil Negalord of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Alexis, Negalady of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Seti, ArchAngel warrior  
Namor, heavenly warrior angel  
Mevokra, demonic champ  
Zetax, demonic overlord  
Valerra, master of evil illusions  
Tasha/ Sailor Nebula  
That mysterious guy (Sorry, the name's a secret)  
  
Concepts I own:  
Imperium Cyber Crystal  
Imperium Darkshadow Crystal  
CyberShadow crystals  
  
— Be afraid, Serena, be very afraid...  
  
...This is Ryan Edgerton, signing off...--- 


	6. Default Chapter Title

Cyber Scouts, Prophecy Saga: part 6  
Evil Unleashed  
  
By Ryan Edgerton, author of TEAM REVELATION and CARDCAPTORS: the Realm series.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the Sailor Moon TV show- Serena/Sailor Moon, Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei(sorry if that's not the correct spelling)/Sailor Mars, Lita/Sailor Mercury, Mina/Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Molly, Melvin, and anybody else I forgot to mention. The ArchAngel Shiro belongs to Eternal Studios and the ArchAngels: The Saga comics series, as does the demon assassin Phalyn. I'll make a list of the characters I do own at the end of the fic, as per usual.  
  
  
Chapter 21- Raging Darkness  
  
Tasha knew she had to come here, that much she was certain of. Valerra's ship hummed in silent power all around her as she made her way through the labyrinth of hallways and walkways. She had been fortunate to get this far, to even have been able to get aboard the ship. She feared Valerra had known she was coming. How else would the shields have been so conveniently down when she tried to teleport onboard? She hoped that, somehow, she would elude the evil illusionist long enough to fulfill her reason for coming here.  
She turned a corner and entered a large room with a ceiling so high and walls so far apart that it was nearly impossible to see their end. The actual floor was far below her; where she now stood was a platform hovering high above the steel floor of the massive central room. Around her, each geometrically positioned to perfection, were six or eight mirrors that, she guessed, served as teleportation doorways. The room was very dark, so dark in fact that the only light came from the portals. She feared she'd taken a wrong turn and turned to go.  
She stopped mid-step. Valerra, like a living, shadowy nightmare, stood in front of the doorway, leaning semi-casually against it's sides and glaring at Tasha.  
"I knew you'd come." Valerra stated.  
"In that case, you know what I'm here to do."  
"Of course, but I must say your plan is rather repetitive. You're just as predictable as ever." Valerra taunted. "Blow up my ship's reactor core to save your petty friends. How cliche!"  
"And I knew you'd try to stop me."  
"Oh the contrary; I won't have to do a thing to stop you."  
"What are you talking about?" Tasha probed.  
"I'm not the one who's going to stop you... they are."  
Valerra pointed beyond the mirrors and a sudden flash illuminated the massive room. Tasha gasped in surprise. There, in the room below the platform, floating limply in two large cylinders filled with transparent black liquid, were Kevin and Zack.  
"They're very much alive." Valerra stated, standing upright. "I decided to use them as my... insurance policy against you. I knew you wouldn't dare destroy this ship with them onboard, and don't even try to run; I've reactivated all the shields around my ship. So, that would mean your only choice now..."  
"... Is to face you one on one." Tasha surmised. "But you'll have to catch me first." With that, she back flipped off the platform onto the room's main floor far below.  
"Easy enough." Valerra mused, then teleported after her.  
  
A sudden flash of light illuminated the small meeting room of the Cherry Hill temple. All the Scouts shielded their eyes against the brightness, but in a second or so it faded away and Sailor Pluto stepped into the room.  
"Pluto!" Serena jumped off the couch and rushed over to the tall warrior, then suddenly stopped as she read the distress in Pluto's face. "What is it? What's wrong?"  
"It's Tasha. I've been searching all over for her, but it's like she's just vanished." She stated, then looked aside nervously. "I'm afraid she may have gone off to face Valerra on her own."  
"What?!" Michelle exclaimed.  
"That's suicide!" Amara added.  
"I'm afraid that may be just what she has in mind." Pluto stated. "She said something about destroying Valerra and the CyberShadow Crystals all together to protect Jason. I don't even want to think of what she may have in mind."  
"We've got to stop her, before it's too late!" Lita exclaimed.  
"I've tried transporting onboard Valerra's ship, but something is blocking me, likely a temporal shield barrier."  
"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Saturn stated.  
"... I'm afraid... it's out of our hands..."  
  
"Nebula Power Storm!"  
Multi-colored electricity erupted all over the massive chamber, it's source being Tasha's staff. Valerra blocked easily, a black shield forming around her as she hovered in mid-air.  
"Somebody's been eating their Wheaties." Valerra scoffed.  
"Your sense of humor is as bad as ever, Valerra." Tasha stated.  
"Oh, did I offend you?" Valerra mocked, then dove at Tasha with a missile kick. Tasha dodged as metal from the floor flew up all around where Valerra had landed, shards of it leaving small cuts on Tasha's exposed legs and arms. Tasha retaliated, teleporting just behind Valerra and slamming her to the ground with a wide swing from her staff. Valerra dodged the follow-up strike, teleporting away as Tasha brought her staff down so hard that she left a moderate dent in the steel floor. Valerra made the next move, blasting at Tasha from a distance with a massive shower of black energy beams. Tasha dodged, darted, and weaved her way in-between the blasts with incredible speed and skill, only getting struck by a few small blasts as she went.  
"Nebula Cosmic Blast!"  
A huge swirling surge of energy erupted out of Tasha's staff, striking Valerra's energy beams and reflecting them safely away while it sped straight at the villainess herself. Valerra teleported away just as the blast got close, causing it to explode against the ceiling way up above, sending little bits of what looked like loose rock and steel cascading down.  
Valerra reappeared nearby, and the two exchanged kicks and blows with survival intensity. They had both been on this stage before, each knew their part, and each was playing to win. Everything was on the line. Tasha was the only other person besides Valerra who could use the CyberShadow Crystal's powers without the gems being separated. Valerra was now the key threat to the Scouts. Only one of them would walk away from this fight, and it would be winner take all.  
Back flipping high into the air, the CyberShadow crystal suddenly materialized in Valerra's right hand. Tasha prepared to counter the inevitable blast, forming a Protective Cloud around herself as her staff glowed with power. If she didn't put every ounce of her power into this one defensive move, it was game over.  
Valerra prepared to attack, the crystal's energy coursing through her arm like electricity as the gem itself glowed with incredible dark power.  
Tasha braced herself, pouring every bit of power she could muster into her defensive barrier as sweat rolled down her forehead like water.  
It was the moment of decision. Which was stronger, the crystal that the forces of evil had fought so long and hard to control, or the Sailor Scout who once guarded that crystal with her life? The crystal's power surged outward, clashing violently against the defensive field of energy and causing an explosion that reached to the edges of the room as the two forces grappled with each other.  
For a moment, it seemed to Tasha that her field might hold, forcing back the powerful evil until Valerra exhausted it's powers.   
With a sudden sound like a hundred windows breaking at the same time, darkness consumed Tasha's world, tearing her life violently away from deep inside of her like a hand punching through her chest and tearing her beating heart out in the same motion. Her eyes went dark as she lay there on the floor, her body thrown down by the sheer force of the beam. The beam faded away as the staff fell out of her hands, hitting the steel beneath her with a loud 'clink'ing sound. The energy faded from her Scout uniform as Valerra floated gently to the ground, crystal power still flowing through her.  
'Jason... I'm... sorry...'  
With that final thought still echoing through her mind, a sudden sound like a snapshot of her soul echoed out of Valerra's ship, penetrating the shields, and headed to earth at speeds faster than any human mind can imagine.  
  
"...The light pierces the darkness, and the darkness has no power against it..."  
Jason collapsed inside, overcome by waves of grief, and sat there, tears pouring out. How much was he supposed to endure???? He wanted to believe that he hadn't heard what he had, but looking up for a moment and seeing the looks on Mina and Rei's faces, he knew that could never be true. First Kevin, then Zack, now his own sister had been torn from him. His sobs only increased the amount of pain from his injuries, and he suddenly fell over as a new shockwave of unbearable fire-like torture hit him. He grabbed his side in pain, then looked at the sky suddenly with only one word on his mind. Circles under his bloodshot eyes, dried tears staining his face, and dry blood from yesterday's battle against Valerra still covering the holes in his coat and where it had dripped onto his pants, he was nothing short of the most pathetically destroyed person any human being had ever laid eyes on.  
"WHY!!!!?"  
His tortured scream echoed throughout the barren tundra before it was lost, vanishing off into the wind only to echo back at him from mountains too far away for him to have heard.  
  
Valerra stood over the unmoving body of her worst enemy in total silence. She observed Tasha's fear-filled look of imminent death that remained frozen on her face, noted that the glow that always seemed to reside within her staff was now little more than the light of a dying ember, saw that all the energy had gone out of her Sailor Scout outfit, leaving it a full-form white with neither glow nor energy. This was, indeed, the body of one of her greatest foes, one of her most elusive and cunning adversaries, one of the greatest threats to her.  
Valerra began to laugh. At first, a mere snicker escaped her lips, then a chuckle, then she burst out in hideous evil malicious laughter as she kicked the fallen corpse, causing it to roll a few feet as blood spilled out of Tasha's open mouth in small dots across the steel floor. Valerra laughed, kicking the body over and over, much to her enjoyment.  
Valerra had, however, neglected to notice that something was amiss in the large chamber. Right in front of her, breaking her suddenly out of her fit of seemingly intoxicated bliss and causing her to jump back in surprise, a shadowed form emerged from amidst the outer darknesses of the room. His white cloak flowed behind him as if it were part of him, hiding his entire body except for his non-descript hands, and his face was hidden beneath the shadow of his hood.  
The one who called himself 'a voice crying out "prepare the way" '.  
"You! How did you get here??!" Valerra exclaimed, bringing the CyberShadow Crystal to bear on him. It's power once more coursed through her as she prepared herself to eliminate this mysterious pest. The white-cloaked warrior stood his ground. "You think what I did to her was bad, just wait until I get through with you!"  
"I'm not here for a fight, servant of darkness." He stated, his Hebrew accent as clear as day as his voice echoed throughout the massive chamber. "I've come for Tasha."  
"So that's the pest's name." Valerra mused. "Sorry, but I don't let anyone take my trophies, not even you, 'Mr. Voice'."  
"She belongs to a higher power. Step aside."  
"Not on your life, freak face! Take one more step and I'll atomize you!" She threatened.  
"Take your best shot." He challenged. "You remember what happened last time we met; do you want to find out if I can send you flying through steel with a lightning bolt?"  
Valerra was annoyed. Jumping high into the air and hovering there, she unleashed a beam of black energy out of the CyberShadow Crystal straight at the mysterious white-clad figure. Just as the beam was about to hit, the figure held out one hand as if to block the beam, and at that moment the whole course of the beam reversed and plowed mercilessly into Valerra, sending her flying off towards the outer edges of the room. She disappeared into the dark edges of the chamber and a moment later a sound like a small explosion was heard.  
The figure walked calmly over to where Tasha's body lay. Observing her for a minute, he then reached down and with his right hand closed Tasha's eyes and wiped the blood from her mouth. With his left hand he then gently touched Tasha's forehead, causing her to vanish in a small flash of almost invisible light. The only thing that remained was her staff. Reaching over, the figure picked up the staff, it's glow suddenly getting brighter and changing colors to a neon green at his touch. He nodded, thinking silently to himself, then vanished himself, blinking seemingly out of existence without so much as a flash or sound, and taking the staff with him.  
A split second after he vanished, Valerra tore out of the shadows like a bloodthirsty animal, black and dark blue energy surrounding her body as her visor glowed a neon red and black flames surrounded her fists. She suddenly saw that both the figure and Tasha were gone, stopped for a second in surprise, then, with a massive surge of black flames around her fist, she punched a crater into the steel floor, scarring it with the very heat of her flames.  
"I'll get you for this, you scum! I'll make you pay!!..."  
  
Chapter 22- Demon Vengence  
  
"No...! Not Nebula too...!" Serena cried, her face in her hands as tears streamed out of her eyes, hey eyeshadow running through her fingers. All the others looked at her, still shocked themselves at the sudden defeat of one of their strongest allies. Amara turned and looked out the window, then hung her head in silent apology. 'Not even Tasha deserved this.' She thought to herself as Serena wept. "How many more are we going to lose, Darien?" Serena cried, looking at Darien through tear-filled eyes. "I'm telling you it's happening all over again..."   
At that point, Serena just broke down. For once, Darien could think of no words of wisdom or encouragement that could help her. He himself, based on what Serena had told her of her experience against Queen Beryl, had to agree with her. It was all happening again, 'and this time there may not even be a way to stop it.'he thought to himself.  
Pluto turned her back to the group for a moment, trying to hide her own tears.  
"I... should go get Jason and the others." She said to the others over her shoulder before vanishing once more.  
At that moment, a thought hit Amara. A thought the likes of which she thought she'd never expected to come into her mind.  
'Imagine what all this is doing to Jason...'  
  
Standing just outside so as not to attract attention to themselves, Zetax and Phalyn listened in with keen interest. As soon as they heard Serena say 'I'm telling you it's happening all over again', the same evil thought hit both of their minds at the same time. A mischievous, merciless grin came over Phalyn and he looked at Zetax with a glint of demonic inspiration in his eye.  
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking...?" He inquired, grinning profusely.  
"I take it you've heard of Princess Serena's battle against Queen Beryl, in that case." Zetax stated, the same glint in his eye as he looked in past the wall straight into the room, looking particularly at Serena as she collapsed repeatedly into tears. "It's her worst nightmare, the one thing that could totally destroy her spirit and will to fight."  
"First, all of her friends fall." Phalyn surmised. "Then, with a few extra ingredients, she'll be begging Valerra not to kill her."  
"For all the good it'll do her." Zetax folded his arms as he scoffed at the weakened princess. "But if we're lucky, we can get her to surrender the Silver Crystal just before we destroy her."  
"Imagine how impressed Abaddon'll be when we bring her soul and all her friends souls to him as trophies. At last we can finally get these kids out of the way!"  
"We'll need to plan it out ever so well, though, so as to totally tear her up inside until there's nothing left." Zetax stated. "We'll need to pick our targets in just the right order, with just the right amount of time in-between so as to turn her into a weak, shaking little insect."  
"This should be very enjoyable, very indeed. C'mon, let's get started!" Phalyn enthused.  
The two vanished in a flash of black flames.  
  
Jason, Mina, and Rei returned to Tokyo at about 3:30 the next morning, after Sailor Pluto had spent a few hours searching for them. All three were frozen up pretty badly, and it was hot water bottles and coco for a while. Saturn bandaged up Jason's multiple wounds, observing that "he's very fortunate to have made it so long without medical attention. It's a miracle he didn't bleed to death. The only thing I can think of is that the frigid temperatures may have helped cut the loss of blood by creating semi-frozen blood clots in and on his coat." Rei was the quickest of all three to recover from the effects of the frigid climate, using her own fire powers to help warm up. Mina was feeling better about an hour after Rei, and immediately attempted to console Jason.  
Jason was a wreck, inside and out. His powers were once more snatched away from him, leaving him defenseless against the Negaverse, but that was the least of his problems. His mind and heart were still half in shock and half on the verge of collapse from the death of so many people so close to him in such a short time. His will to fight was almost completely gone; his will to live wasn't holding up much better. His spirit and soul were as if they'd been hit with Napalm, leaving them bleeding through burnt flesh and pulverized insides. His injuries, while not life threatening anymore, were painful in much the same way as scorpion stings, only the pain almost never seemed to fade even in the slightest.  
"I'm not sure how much longer I can take all this, Mina." He cried, long having used up any tears he left in him. He lay in one of the temple's sparse beds, gauze wrapped around his forehead, chest, stomach, and upper right arm. Mina sat at the bedside, holding his left hand. "I just want it all to stop. I want the pain to stop. I wanna see Kevin and Zack again. I want to see Tasha. I just want to die and go to Jesus; I don't know how much longer I can take people being ripped out of my life anymore."  
"Don't talk like that, Jason." Mina scolded. "Don't you dare die on me, not after all we've been through."  
For a long moment, Jason was silent.  
"What I'm afraid of most, though," He looked at Mina with eyes fearful of what the future might hold. "Is that you might be next."  
"Don't talk like that. We're gonna beat Valerra and get the CyberShadow Crystal back, and we're not going to lose any more friends, I promise."  
"Don't promise, Mina." He replied, trying to sit up. "Serena said it herself; it's all happening just like it did against Queen Beryl . . . I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"  
"Jason, remember what you told me before we left for the Arctic? No matter what happens, no matter what the opposition, we'll go the distance *together*."  
  
"I'm really worried about Jason." Mina said. It was now about 4 in the morning and all the remaining Scouts were meeting once again in the small studying room of the Cherry Hill temple. Serena and Darien sat together over near the left wall, Amara, Michelle, Saturn, and Pluto were over on the far right, and the other Scouts sat on small pillows scattered about the room. Jason was still in the next room, trying unsuccessfully to sleep. Luna and Artemis sat next to Serena as Mina talked. "I've never seen him so... torn up. I'm really worried about him."  
"I know what you mean." Amara replied. "Even I feel sorry for him."  
"Yeah, me too." Rei stated. "I mean, I know I would just wanna lay down and die if I suddenly lost so many of my friends so suddenly."  
"Please, Rei, don't say things like that." Serena stated, then looked down and whispered. "You're scaring me..."  
"We should all go get some sleep." Darien stated, trying to change the subject. "We're useless against the Negaverse unless we can stand and fight."  
"Darien's right." Saturn stated. "Let's meet back here in the morning to plan our next move."  
  
That night Jason slept fitfully, dreams and nightmares clashing before his mind's eye. Images of Kevin, Zack, and Tasha lying on the ground, their still-living bodies torn into pieces and thrown about randomly. Blood and darkness were everywhere. Somewhere far off, then suddenly as close as if it was right next to him, he heard Valerra's evil laugh. He threw his hands over his ears and dropped to his knees, eyes closed tight, as suddenly the voices came to him...  
"... Why didn't you save us, Jason..."  
"... You could have stopped it..."  
"... You should have seen it coming..."  
"... Can't you see..."  
"... it's all your fault..."  
He screamed, trying without success to block out the voices, but they pierced through his scream like as if it never existed. The voices grew louder and louder until they no longer became voices, instead becoming unending death screams. Jason fell to his face, trying desperately to make it all stop.  
Suddenly, one voice cut all the others away.  
"And you know what, Jason?..."  
Jason looked up to see, towering over him like the Goliath of ancient times, a ninja-like figure with blazing red eyes, four fingered clawlike hands, and black armor straight out of the Abyss. Zetax. Jason didn't know how he knew, but he knew.  
Somewhere, far behind Zetax, a sudden female scream was heard, accompanied by a sound like an earthquake.  
"...She's next!"  
Zetax disappeared as a sudden invisible light illuminated the area behind where the menacing evil warrior had stood. Jason gasped and froze in silent horror. There before him, impaled on a tall, thin spike jutting cleanly out of the ground, her limp body hanging there with the tip of the spike coming out her back...  
... was Mina.  
The voices suddenly returned, merciless, horrifying, a thousand living speaking nightmares surrounding him on all sides and assaulting every part of his being, so intense that Jason screamed out in pain as each sound pierced him like a sharp dagger.  
"You killed her!" Rei's voice screamed.  
"This is all your fault, Jason!" Lita's voice added in outrage.  
"Why, Jason? We trusted you!" Amy's voice exclaimed, tears audible in her tone.  
"Traitor!" Amara's voice cried out.  
"Worthless scum!" Pluto shouted.  
"Where is your God now?!" Darien accused.  
"Betrayer!" Serena added.  
"Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! . . ." Jason screamed in horror, collapsing completely to the ground, his knees slipping out from beneath him. For a minute or two, the voices continued their attack, then faded into the background as Zetax, reappearing in front of Jason, clamped his hand down on Jason's neck and lifted him high into the air. The two came face to face as a blood-stained dagger materialized in Zetax's left hand.  
"And there's nothing... nothing you can do, human."  
With those words, Zetax plunged the jagged weapon into Jason's stomach.  
At that exact moment, Jason awoke with a start, instinctively sitting up in shock only to be driven onto his back again as pain shot through his body like electricity. He lay there for what seemed like an eternity, catching his breath painfully and waiting for the intense pain running through him to subside. At last it did, and he slowly and cautiously sat up, sweat staining his clothes and dripping like rain off of his forehead.  
As he sat there, thoughts raging through his mind, he could still hear Zetax's words clear as day...  
"... and there's nothing... nothing you can do..."  
  
Chapter 23- Nightmare's Foundation  
  
Rei suddenly awoke to find a hand clamped down over her mouth and a kitchen knife pressed against her throat. She struggled for breath as Azurite, the one holding her down and holding the knife, threatened in a low voice "Make a sound and I'll kill you right here and now, 'Marsy'."  
"I've got the transformation wand." Alexis whispered from somewhere across the room. "Let's get out of here while the getting's good."  
  
Jason suddenly heard a sound from somewhere in the small building. He listened more intently and suddenly heard it again. Something suddenly told him there was something very wrong with those sounds. He got out of bed as quickly as he could and dashed out of the room, still wearing his clothes from the arctic.  
It wasn't long before he ran across Azurite and Alexis. They were at the other end of a short hallway, pushing Rei along with a gag in her mouth and a knife pushed against her throat. Alexis held Rei's transformation wand in her left hand and a ninja sword in her left.  
"Well, look who decided to have a sleep over in the 'pagan' temple." Alexis mused.  
"Let her go!" Jason shouted.  
"Another loud noise like that, and she gets it." Azurite warned. "And don't get testy with me; you have no idea how badly I want to do the same to you."  
"We don't have to put up with this little sap." Alexis stated, pointing the transformation wand at Jason. "I think it's time for a little firepower-induced co-operation."  
"All it takes is one spark, and this place is a cinder." Azurite threatened. "Whatcha wanna bet whoever else lives here'll never make it out alive?"  
"What do you expect me to do, stand here and let you kidnap one of my friends??" Jason exclaimed.  
"You don't have a choice, brat. One wrong move, and this little spark goes out permanently." Azurite stated, holding the knife up under Rei's chin.  
"Come to think of it, you're no real threat at all." Alexis stated. "Azurite, look at the little squirt; he's bandaged and weak, no challenge to defeat."  
"I'll fight you!" Jason retorted.  
Without warning, Alexis lunged forward in a super-fast roundhouse kick, scoring a clean hit on Jason in the chest and sending him easily to the ground. Jason lay there, reeling in pain as suddenly the reality of all his injuries reasserted itself.  
"Yeah right." Alexis scoffed, then turned to Azurite. "Should we take him, too?"  
"We follow our orders." He replied, then turned to Jason. "We'll be back for you later, twerp. Say goodbye to your little friend here!"  
With that, Azurite and Alexis rushed down the hallway past Jason, pushing Rei along with them and leaving Jason there on the floor, sprawling in pain.  
  
"Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!"  
The Doom and Gloom Girls easily evaded, darting out of the way of the ball of electricity. Lita used the moment to leap down into a nearby alleyway, trying her best to lose the menacing creatures. She pulled out her communicator and tried frantically to reach the others as she dashed out of the alley and down the city's sidewalks. All she got on her communicator was static; something was jamming her.  
Without warning, the D&G Girls appeared above, vine-arms whipping out at Lita like whips. Cement chucks flew up behind her as she dodged as best she could, electricity building on her tiara and hands in preparation for a counter-attack.  
Before she could attack, one of the vines found it's mark and wrapped mercilessly around Lita, constricting her painfully. Her face hit the sidewalk as another set of vines suddenly pulled her legs out from under her. She thrashed about violently, but the vines were too strong. She was left with only one tactic.  
"Supreme Thunder Crash!"  
The currents of electricity traveled up the vines like as if through power cords, hitting her two assailants with perfect accuracy. She focused all her energy into the attack, electricity cascading out from the small lightning rod that was part of her tiara. The surge of electrical power continued for almost a minute until Lita's power was finally spent. She collapsed, breathing hard from her effort to defend herself, as the four creatures laughed in victory.  
"Is that the *best* you can do?" The lead inquired, then turned to the other three. "Take her away; you know what to do with her."  
  
Amy back flipped out of the way as eight blasts of black electricity shot past the area where she'd been standing seconds before. She landed on a nearby tree branch, but before she even had a chance to catch her footing a second barrage of energy blasts tore the tree trunk below her into wood chips, sending the upper half falling to the ground. The two Cyborg warriors she'd been fighting, both from Valerra's personal army, immediately locked their cannons on the fallen Scout as she got to her feet.  
"Asta-lavista, 'Scouttie'." One of the two laughed.  
"Shine Aqua-"  
The creatures blasted her before she even got the chance to finish her sentence. The water that was quickly surrounding her body in preparation for the attack dropped to the ground and vanished as Amy herself was thrown several feet through the air by the powerful blasts. She hit the ground, rolled, then slowly came to a stop, revealing that she was unconscious .  
"Three down." The other creature stated. "We're done for the night."  
Both the Cyborgs and Amy vanished in a flash of darkness.  
  
A sudden sound, the phone next to her bed ringing, awoke Serena. Luna looked up sleepily as Serena rubbed her eyes and picked up the phone groggily.  
Jason was on the other end.  
"Serena? Azurite and Alexis just kidnaped Rei. I tried to stop them, but they were threatening to kill her. Alexis knocked me out with a kick and I just pulled out of it a minute ago. We've got to contact the other Scouts, STAT!"  
Serena dropped the phone to the floor, a look of true horror etched on her face.  
  
"They what?!" Mina exclaimed. "Don't worry, Jason. I'll try to contact the others."  
"Be careful, Mina." Jason warned, holding the phone in one hand and grasping his side painfully with the other. "I had a nightmare just before I woke up... just be careful; there's no time to explain."  
"I will, Jason. I promise."  
Jason hung up the phone, a fear-stricken look on his face. He hated being powerless, unable to protect others, especially at times like this. He held his now re-bleeding side in pain as he dialed another number, hoping beyond hope that Darien was awake.  
"Hello?"  
"Darien, I'm glad I got a hold of you." Jason stated. "Rei's been kidnaped by Azurite and Alexis. I tried to stop them-"  
" They kidnaped her?" Darien was startled for a minute, then became confident. "Don't worry, Jason. Tuxedo Mask is on duty."  
"This is no time for stupid heroics. You could be next; just be careful."  
"I will be, and I'll try to find Rei and her kidnapers. I know this city like the back of my hand; if anyone can find them, I can."  
"Meet up with Serena and the others as soon as you can. I don't know their numbers, but hopefully Serena and Mina will be able to contact them. You can probably use Amy's computers to trace their communicators and rescue them."  
Jason had no sooner hung up the phone than it suddenly began ringing. He picked it up to find Serena on the other end.  
"Jason? Lita and Amy aren't answering their communicators. I tried and tried, but they didn't answer. Do you think-"  
"Calm down, Serena. Darien's on his way over; we'll get to the bottom of this. Just don't panic."  
  
The night wore on, daybreak came, and no one could find a trace of Rei, Amy, or Lita anywhere. Amara, Michelle, Saturn, and Pluto joined the search, but to no avail. All they found was a crushed, fallen over tree in the area around where Amy lived and signs of a battle near the Starlight tower.  
"It's happening all over again." Serena cried as Darien tried to comfort her. The remaining Scouts now stood high atop the Starlight tower, looking out over the city as the sun slowly rose into the sky. "It's just like before... Darien, I'm scared..."  
"We all are, Serena." Darien stated.  
"As well you should be."  
They all spun to see Valerra floating in the air just past the tower's roof, the CyberShadow Crystal in her folded hands. Serena stepped back in fear as Amara, Darien, and the others went into battle stances. Valerra didn't make a move.  
"You've got a lot of nerve coming here." Amara scowled.  
"Why are you doing this?" Serena exclaimed.  
"Because it's so much more fun destroying you Scouts like this." She laughed. "One by one, the mighty Sailor soldiers fall, but I'll keep you guessing who's next. In the end, though, it's just gonna be you and me, moon girl. Then we'll see who's more powerful."  
"You have a sick mind." Saturn challenged, holding her staff aimed squarely at Valerra. "Besides, what makes you think you'll be able to beat us all?"  
"The same thing that made me think I could take out your other six Scout friends so easily, and ended up being true in the end. You'll never beat *me*, Scouts. Prepare to see your future's end..., permanently!"  
"Uranus Space Sword Blaster!" Amara exclaimed, slashing the blade in the air and sending out a boomerang of golden energy.  
The moment the attack touched Valerra, she vanished from existence.  
"An illusion!" Darien exclaimed.  
"Of course." Valerra's bodiless voice echoed out from nowhere. "But if you thought that was realistic, just wait until... my next deception..."  
The voice laughed evilly as it faded from existence.  
  
(To be continued... the end draws near, Cyber Scout fans. Beware...)  
The characters I own, UPDATED AT LAST:  
Jason/Sailor (Cyber) Genesis  
Kevin/Sailor (Cyber) Exodus  
Zack/Sailor (Cyber) Apocalypse  
Azurite, the evil Negalord of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Alexis, Negalady of the Darkshadow Crystal  
Seti, ArchAngel warrior  
Namor, heavenly warrior angel  
Mevokra, demonic champ  
Zetax, demonic overlord  
Valerra, master of evil illusions  
Tasha/ Sailor Nebula  
That mysterious guy (Sorry, the name's a secret)  
  
Concepts I own:  
Imperium Cyber Crystal  
Imperium Darkshadow Crystal  
CyberShadow crystals  
  
— The next, and final story should prove to be a champion amongst fanfiction. Let's review what's happened so far, shall we? Three kids hiking in the mountains discover the Imperium Cyber Crystal and, with it's powers, become Cyber Scouts. The bad guys (you know them by now) show up at a conveniently similar time. Skip ahead two stories. The CyberShadow prophecy begins, and it's up to Jason, Kevin, Zack, and Jason's sister Tasha to rescue all seven CyberShadow crystals. Three crystals are rescued / enter outer rim Scouts. Enter Valerra. Kevin meets his match, followed shortly by Zack. Valerra gets all CyberShadow crystals. Tasha is killed trying to protect Jason from Valerra. Scouts regroup in Tokyo, only to lose Amy, Rei, and Lita. Are they still alive? Are they dead? What have Azurite and Alexis been doing all this time? Will Serena be able to resist Valerra's evil scheme? When is Chaos going to enter onto the scene? Who is that mysterious figure?? Is Mina really next on Zetax's hit list? What is the mysterious guy gonna do with Tasha's staff? What exactly is Valerra's plan? Will anyone be able to save the earth, and it's Scouts, from total defeat against the Negaforce?  
Am I ever gonna tell you the answers to any of these questions????  
Well, you'll have to find out in the next story, entitled 'The Wrath to Come'. See ya! (I know, you will probably never forgive me for doing this to you, for driving you insane with suspense while I seem to be doing nothing but adding FURTHER complications to the storyline.) This is Ryan 'Da Cutting Edge' Edgerton, AKA Sailor/Cyber Revelation, AKA that guy you'll probably be flaming for years if I never put out the next part of this series,... signing off once again!--- 


	7. Default Chapter Title

Cyber Scouts, Prophecy Saga: part 7  
The Wrath to Come  
  
By Ryan Edgerton, author of TEAM REVELATION and CARDCAPTORS: the Realm series.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the Sailor Moon TV show- Serena/Sailor Moon, Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei(sorry if that's not the correct spelling)/Sailor Mars, Lita/Sailor Mercury, Mina/Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Molly, Melvin, and anybody else I forgot to mention. The ArchAngels Shiro, Cameron, Kai, and Dareus belong to Eternal Studios and the ArchAngels: The Saga comics series, as does the demon assassin Phalyn. I'll make a list of the characters I do own at the end of the fic, as per usual.  
  
Forgive me for not using Pluto and Saturn's real names up till this point. I was waiting to see if they'd change the names for the US version of Sailor Moon.  
  
Preface–  
Night slowly set upon the city of Tokyo, it's famed 'rising sun' settling down as the moon and it's stars began to take over the sky. The city was aglow with the colors of the sunset, blues and pinks and oranges cascading across the city's many buildings and skyscrapers. People within the city went about their usual business; some were grocery shopping, some at home, some still at work, some as tourists seeing the sights, there was a wedding in the nearby weeding hall and somewhere in the city a young girl was being proposed to by a young man. Elsewhere, a church service was being held with traditional hymns being played, another church elsewhere was conducting a funeral service, and yet another was on their knees praying as a congregation. There were birthday parties and anniversaries, school clubs meeting and study groups calling it a night, karate classes dismissing and parents being parents when their kids were late.  
He stood high above it all, looking down over the metropolis from the highest point in Tokyo, the famed Starlight tower. His white cloaked billowed in the wind, his face continually hidden beneath the hood of his long cloak. He looked out upon the city, seeing it's activities not only for what they appeared to be, but also what he knew was going on without anyone's knowledge. Dark specters dashed and darted in-between buildings, their leathery wings carrying them not on wind but as if by simple will to go, their weapons sharp and their claws pointed. They, too, knew what was really going on in the city; that a cosmic war between good and evil had found it's latest, greatest battlefield here in the mighty city without anyone's knowledge. They, too, knew of the struggle for dominance between the ones called Sailor Soldiers, and the forces that were, like themselves, empowered from the dark Abyss.  
The white cloaked figure stepped over towards the side of the tower as an instrument like a hollowed out ram's horn suddenly materialized in his hands. Taking it to his lips, he sounded off a mighty trumpet-like blast that resounded throughout the city. The shofar (pronounced show-far) vanished once more as people near enough to hear the sound looked up in sudden surprise.  
The figure cupped his hands around his mouth as he shouted...  
... "The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to prisoners and the favorable year of the Lord..., and the day of the vengence of God..."  
People from below thought he was just some kind of lunatic.  
The demons trembled at the truth of his words.  
With a sudden flash of invisible light, he vanished into the slowly emerging darkness.  
  
Chapter 24- Schemes of Shadow  
  
Zetax stood on a high tower opposite the Starlight tower, and watched as the mysterious figure made his declaration and then faded away. He scoffed at the statement, drawing out one of his twin ninja swords and tracing it's inner curve with his thumb.  
"You think you're so strong, human. You think that you can defeat me after everything that I've put together to stand in your way. You're a fool." He mumbled.  
"Am I now?"  
Zetax turned calmly to face the figure, the two standing their ground and refusing to relent a step to the other.  
"You are indeed clever, warrior." Zetax stated, his sword limp at his side. "I almost didn't hear you find your way up here, but almost has never been considered very successful, now has it?"  
"I come with a message for you, commander of darkness." The figure stated, unmoving. "The prophecy is not yet over, and you shall fail in the end."  
"Will I now? And I suppose you think you can stop me, don't you? We're polar foes, you and I. You proclaimed His coming, I prepared the nails for his hands and the spear for his side."  
"You also had me beheaded, fallen angel. I remember it well, but unlike Messiah, I do not still bear the scars."  
"What I want to know is why you have returned now. You are supposed to be restrained until the Last Days."  
"I go where my Father sends me, by now you should know that is perfectly true."  
"I will not allow you to interfere!" Zetax threatened.  
"Nor I allow you to interfere, Zetax."  
With that, the figure vanished.  
  
"They know who we are, they know where we live, and they know we operate." Jason stated. "That much is obvious by now. The big questions now are how they know, what their next move is, and where they've taken Amy, Lita, and Rei."  
It was sunset, the day after the kidnapings. The remnant of the Scouts were meeting in secret at the gates of time, where Pluto said that it was unlikely Valerra and her minions would be able to find them.  
"All very good questions, but without the answers we're in quite a fix." Amara noted.  
"We can't just hide out here for the rest of our lives, though." Mina stated. "We've gotta find where they took them and see if we can't get them back."  
"The trouble is finding them." Luna stated.   
"Without Amy's computers or some way to track the missing Scouts, finding them is almost impossible." Artemis stated.  
"There's got to be a way." Hotaru stated. "Tristal, isn't there anything you can do?"  
"I'm afraid not... unless I go back in time to the night of the kidnapings and secretly follow Azurite and Alexis. It's risky, but it may be our only chance."  
"Be careful." Serena cautioned. "I don't want to lose any more friends."  
"Wait a second." Jason stated, pulling something out of his pocket. "Take a transponder with you just in case. That way, even if you get captured, we can use it's signal to track your location and maybe rescue you."  
He handed her the small whitish button-sized device and she tucked it safely away. With a nod to Serena, she vanished, her body phasing out of reality like a sand statue blown by a strong wind.  
Jason turned to Mina, a concerned look on his face.  
"I sure hope this works."  
  
Jason suddenly heard a sound from somewhere in the small building. He listened more intently and suddenly heard it again. Something suddenly told him there was something very wrong with those sounds. He got out of bed as quickly as he could and dashed out of the room, still wearing his clothes from the arctic.  
It wasn't long before he ran across Azurite and Alexis. They were at the other end of a short hallway, pushing Rei along with a gag in her mouth and a knife pushed against her throat. Alexis held Rei's transformation wand in her left hand and a ninja sword in her left.  
"Well, look who decided to have a sleep over in the 'pagan' temple." Alexis mused.  
"Let her go!" Jason shouted.  
"Another loud noise like that, and she gets it." Azurite warned. "And don't get testy with me; you have no idea how badly I want to do the same to you."  
"We don't have to put up with this little sap." Alexis stated, pointing the transformation wand at Jason. "I think it's time for a little firepower-induced co-operation."  
"All it takes is one spark, and this place is a cinder." Azurite threatened. "Whatcha wanna bet whoever else lives here'll never make it out alive?"  
"What do you expect me to do, stand here and let you kidnap one of my friends??" Jason exclaimed.  
"You don't have a choice, brat. One wrong move, and this little spark goes out permanently." Azurite stated, holding the knife up under Rei's chin.  
"Come to think of it, you're no real threat at all." Alexis stated. "Azurite, look at the little squirt; he's bandaged and weak, no challenge to defeat."  
"I'll fight you!" Jason retorted.  
Without warning, Alexis lunged forward in a super-fast roundhouse kick, scoring a clean hit on Jason in the chest and sending him easily to the ground. Jason lay there, reeling in pain as suddenly the reality of all his injuries reasserted itself.  
"Yeah right." Alexis scoffed, then turned to Azurite. "Should we take him, too?"  
"We follow our orders." He replied, then turned to Jason. "We'll be back for you later, twerp. Say goodbye to your little friend here!"  
With that, Azurite and Alexis rushed down the hallway past Jason, pushing Rei along with them and leaving Jason there on the floor, sprawling in pain.  
Pluto materialized outside the temple, hidden behind a small clump of bushes. She watched as three shadowed forms dashed out of the temple, one of the three being forced along with a knife to her throat and her hands held painfully behind her back. They vanished from sight and Pluto immediately raced after them, following at a safe distance. She saw a sudden flash of darkness up ahead and, her mind instantly recognizing a black portal invisible in front of her, picked up her speed until she was sprinting like a chaeta. She saw the three silhouettes ahead of her vanish in a sudden flash of black and, realizing the portal was closing fast, used her Deadly Scream attack to launch herself through the air and into the warphole just as it was about to close.  
She emerged at the other end of the warp, reappearing inside what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. She looked around quickly and suddenly noticed Alexis aiming what appeared to be Rei's transformer wand straight at her.  
"We've been followed." Azurite deduced. "That little Scout followed us here."  
"She won't be a threat for long." Alexis stated. "Time to have a little fun."  
Tristal dodged a sudden blast of fire from the wand with a back flip, landing high upon a stack of boxes. Alexis took aim again, this time at the base of the box tower. Tristal back flipped off and, pulling out the transponder, let it drop secretly into a box far below a few seconds before she vanished, her staff transporting her back to the gates of time.  
  
"Did you find them?" Serena inquired nervously as Pluto reappeared.  
"They're in a warehouse, likely within the city. I dropped the transponder secretly just before I escaped."  
"Why didn't you Time Freeze them or something?" Jason inquired.  
"My staff needs a certain amount of recharge time after an attack to get up to full power. I had only enough power to get back here safely."  
"Hopefully they didn't spot that transponder." Michelle stated.  
"It's not likely they'll find it;" She semi-smirked. "I dropped it into a box of white buttons."  
"If we can get to Kevin's apartment, I can activate the secondary tracking system. Then we can rescue them easy once we locate them." Jason stated.  
"Assuming we're not walking into a trap." Amara stated. The others looked at her in question. "If they spotted Tristal before she got out of there or if they spot that transponder somehow, it's likely they'd use it to set up a trap for us."  
"But we don't have much of a choice, do we." Mina stated. "I mean, we can't just let them hold our friends hostage like this."  
"Assuming they're still alive." Amara stated in a low voice. "Assuming the warehouse is where they're being held. Assuming they're not planning on our showing up. I don't like it; there's too many variables we can't predict."  
"Well, what choice do we have?" Jason stated.  
"We have one or two options open to us." Amara stated. "For starters, I recommend Jason not go with us."  
"What?!" Jason exclaimed.  
"Jason, she has a point." Mina stated. "I don't want to admit it, either, but without your powers and in the shape you're in,... we just don't want you to get hurt."  
"Mina-" Jason began to protest, but Mina cut him off.  
"Jason, I know you want to help, but you're no good to us if you're dead. Please, I know I'm asking you not to try to save your friends, but what good are heroics if we lose you?"  
Jason hesitated for a minute, as if he was about to say something, then nodded his head in silent agreement.  
  
Chapter 25- Trap  
  
"You're certain of what you saw." Valerra questioned.  
The three menacing agents of evil stood in the midst of large wooden crates and noxious odors that were beyond identification. The warehouse around them was silent except for the occasional struggling of the three captured Sailor Scouts a room away.  
"It was Pluto, no doubt about it." Alexis stated.  
"We must assume they know where we are." Azurite added. "Shouldn't we move the Scouts to a more secure location?"  
"What? And lose this opportunity?" Valerra laughed. "Let those Sailor trash come. I'll prepare a trap that'll catch them off-guard."  
"I don't like this." Azurite stated. "You're taking too many risks. Sooner or later, the tables are bound to turn and it'll be the Scouts laying a trap for *us*."  
"You worry too much Azurite." Valerra stated calmly. She held up the CyberShadow Crystal as it glowed with a dark power. "I've got everything under control."  
  
"You think you've got everything under control, Valerra? Hu!" Zetax scoffed as he and Phalyn looked on, observing the little meeting. "You have no idea who's really in control here."  
"And we need to make sure it stays that way." Phalyn stated. "If they were to suddenly turn on us now it would ruin everything we've worked so hard to achieve."  
"They wouldn't dare. They're *addicted* to negative power; we own them." Zetax stated.  
"Something *is* bugging you, I can tell." Phalyn stated.  
"No, not really. I've just been fine-tuning my plans lately and realized I should soon have the perfect opportunity to finish off Prince Darien for good. You could say I'm a little... excited."  
"Mind letting me in on your plans?" Phalyn inquired.  
"For an outsider who invited himself to the party, you sure are nosy. Don't worry, I'll tell you when the time is right." Zetax stated, vanishing in a flash of black flames.  
"He's hiding something from me..." Phalyn thought out loud. "And I wanna know why."  
  
Jason and the other Scouts made their way into Kevin's house through an open kitchen window. Climbing in one at a time, the group made their way from the kitchen, up the stairs, and into Kevin's room. One half of the room was littered with technology of all kinds: full and partial computer systems, open hard drives, dissected gizmos and gadgets of all kinds. Jason walked over and flipped on Kevin's third computer from the right, made it into a DOS shell, and typed in a six letter password. A window labeled 'Secondary Transponder System' flashed into existence, and Jason chose the menu option 'tracking', bringing up a map with a little white dot in the far right corner and a blue dot dead center.  
"OK," Jason explained. "We're the blue dot, and that white one is an active transponder." He menu-ed in a few more commands and the tracking map was suddenly overlayed with a map of the city. "With this, we should be able to pinpoint the warehouse." He zoomed in on the white dot until he could make out the building it was inside. With a few more commands, a street address and ownership name appeared next to the building. "I got it! It's where Towasoko and the road to the docks meet, just off to the left. Owners abandoned it apparently; no ownership name."  
"I know the area pretty well." Amara stated, then turned to Michelle. "No way everyone's going to fit in my car, if I still had one. The Sailor Scouts may be forced to rely on public transportation for once."  
"Perish the thought." Michelle joked.  
"Good luck." Jason said, holding out a hand to Amara in particular. "I hope everybody makes it back in one piece."  
"I didn't think you believed in luck." Amara semi-joked. "But I appreciate the gesture."  
"Come on, let's get going." Hotaru proposed. "We don't know how much time we have, if any."  
The Scouts turned to go, but Jason suddenly put his hand on Mina's shoulder.  
"Be careful, Mina."  
"You said that once before, Jason." She said, turning to him. "On the phone, you said there wasn't time to explain. Why are you worrying more about me than about the others?"  
"Could it be that he's in love or something?" Amara wondered out loud sarcastically, then gave Mina that look. "It's a boyfriend thing. You gotta respect him for that."  
"If only that were it." He stated, sighing and shaking his head. "I... I had a terrible nightmare, just before Rei got kidnaped."  
He went on to describe the horrifying scenes, deciding to describe Zetax instead of trying to convince Mina of his demonic origin. He told her about the voices, about Zetax's threat on Mina's life, about the scene of her impaled on that giant spike. When he got to that part, Jason just broke down and cried for a minute or two, before describing the rest.  
"No wonder he's scared." Michelle whispered.  
"Just,... promise me you'll make it back alive, Mina." Jason pleaded.  
"I promise." She replied. "And I'll do everything in my power to get the others back. We won't lose each other, Jason. I promise."  
  
"They're on their way here; how convenient." Valerra mused, hovering high over the boxes and crates that near-filled the warehouse. Phalyn hovered similarly just behind her, arms folded and deep in thought. "Can I count on you this time for battle support, Phalyn?"  
"Oh, you'll be getting more than that." He replied. "Chaos has some kind of... plan to use all of this to finish Darien off for good, but won't let me in on it. It's annoying, to say the least."  
"More annoying than you? That would be something." Valerra mused, but didn't get a reaction out of Phalyn. "You're not your usual, 'perky' self today; why?"  
"Something about all of this... I don't know. Why won't he tell me what he's planning?"  
"You're asking the wrong person." Valerra stated.  
  
"There it is." Amara stated as the bus pulled up to a stop near the docks. About a mile or two up the relatively straight road was the warehouse, it's slowly-rotting form having the appearance of a blister or mold set against the city scape in the distance. "And what a dump it is."  
"Buildings like that should be condemned." Hotaru stated.  
"I think this one was, but never got torn down." Michelle concluded. "A perfect hideout if you don't want to be noticed."  
"I only hope we're not too late." Serena whispered as the bus pulled to a stop at the docks.  
The remaining seven Scouts got off the half-empty bus and stepped out onto the dock. The spell of the ocean surrounded them as the sun set low on the horizon, it's light reflecting off the waters. They made their way discretely to a hidden overhang. After making sure no one was watching, they transformed into their Scout forms and took off towards the abandoned warehouse in the distance.  
Jason re-entered his own house for the first time in weeks, closing the front door gently behind him. The familiarity of his own house was a comfort at first, but then it slowly began to remind him of memories of Tasha, Kevin and Zack. He pushed those thoughts aside; this was no time to break down crying. He had warfare to do; praying for the Scouts as they attempted to rescue Rei, Amy, and Lita.  
Suddenly, a sound reached his ears. He froze. No one else was supposed to have been in this house for weeks, and no one was supposed to be here now. He slowly and cautiously made his way to his room, hoping to grab one of his swords so he could defend himself if need be.  
Behind him, a shadowed figure darted swiftly into the shadows. Jason spun, but nothing was there. Now he began to panic. He dashed for his room, fresh sweat appearing on his forehead.  
He pulled the door open and froze. He blinked in disbelief. There, a green glow pulsing gently from inside it's diamond-shaped head, was Tasha's staff. Somewhere in the corner of the room, one of the shadows begin to move slowly towards him, but he dared not move.  
"She died trying to protect you from Valerra. You and Mina. I believe she would want you to have this, Jason." The shadowed figure stated, his white cloak streaked with black shadows from the light of the dying sunset.  
"... Who... who are you?" Jason whispered, barely able to give voice to the words.  
"I am a voice, nothing more, nothing less." The figure gestured to the staff. "Take it; it belongs to you now."  
He picked up the staff slowly and nervously, it glowing more steadily at his touch. He turned to face the figure, nervous and somewhat afraid. His throat was dry and sweat lined his forehead, the effects of his fear moments before still hanging heavy on him as he looked into the figure's hidden face.  
"Why are you doing this?" He questioned.  
"Because it had to be done. You will not be able to use it's powers just yet, but when the time comes where your own powers are restored, then you can use it."  
"How will I know? How do I use it?"  
"All things will be revealed when the time is right. For now, have faith, and keep the staff well-hidden."  
The figure stepped back into the shadows, his form vanishing without a trace.  
  
Darien kicked aside the rusted doors into the warehouse and the Scouts rushed inside, weapons ready. The place was dark, musty, filled with horrible smells, and mazed with crates and boxes packed with who-knows-what-but-it-wreaks. Serena led the way as the Scouts traveled deeper and deeper into the dark, shadowy unknown.  
Suddenly, Michelle's ears pricked up as a sound reached her.  
"Shh!" She warned. "I think I heard something."  
She pointed in the direction of the sound and the Scouts set off in that direction. A few right-hand turns and a pile of molding fish later, they suddenly spotted the captured Scouts.  
"There they are!" Serena exclaimed, relieved, rushing towards the bound-up Scouts.  
"Hold it!" Amara put out her hand to stop her. "This might be a trap. You'd better let us go first." She said, turning to Michelle, Hotaru, and Tristal. They nodded in agreement. Darien and Mina stayed with Serena as the others cautiously made their way towards the captured Scouts, being careful to search the area for traps or ambushes.  
"I think it's safe." Hotaru whispered.  
"I'm not sensing anything evil here, at least not that wouldn't be expected." Michelle agreed. Amara nodded and the group, still a little cautious, made their way over to Re, Amy, and Lita.  
Silently, like a phantom, a black vortex began to form right behind Serena, Darien, and Mina. None of them even knew it was there, until suddenly a winged shadow out of the rafters swooped down like a falcon and, before they could react, slammed into them so hard all four fell in through the vortex. Amara turned around just in time to see the warphole close.  
"It's a trap!" She exclaimed, and not a moment later Rei, Amy, and Lita vanished like a hologram, revealing Valerra standing where they had been mere minutes ago. Azurite and Alexis leapt out from behind piles of crates and boxes, a sword in one of their hands and a transformation wand in the other.  
"Game set match, Scouts." Valerra laughed as Cyborg warriors began appearing all across the visible warehouse, cannons locked on the four remaining Scouts. "I'm *so* glad you could drop in for the party! Attack them!" Valerra shouted to her minions.  
  
Chapter 26- Negaverse  
  
Serena, Darien, and Mina fell out of the other end of the warphole, skidding across the rough ground for a few feet before being able to stop themselves. The shadow landed nearby, it's leathery wings reminiscent to that of a bat and it's black armor shaped like a dragon. Serena and Co. picked themselves up as the creature simply stood there, watching them.  
A ninja-like form began to appear from in the midst of this realm of shadow and darkness, slowly emerging from behind curtains of black fog. Next to him was an armor-clad warrior, his skin the color of liquid mercury and his eyes black circles with a small red dot in the middle for a pupil. Neon red fire glowed lightly on his first as the two walked calmly towards the Scouts.  
"So, this is what you were planning." Phalyn said, turning to Zetax while at the same time looking down at the Scouts.  
"Who... who are you?" Serena exclaimed.  
"You wouldn't recognize me, princess." Zetax stated. "But I believe Darien and I know each other."  
"What are you talking about?!" Darien challenged. "Who are you?"  
Mina trembled in fear. 'Black armor, ninja outfit, glowing red eyes,... oh my God, it Zetax!'  
"You don't remember me? Oh, now that's a pity." Zetax scoffed. "I mean, you'd think he would remember the living shadow that *killed his parents*."  
"What?!!" Darien exclaimed.  
"Oh, that's right. You wouldn't remember me, mostly because you couldn't see me." Zetax stated, pointing one finger at Darien. "Perhaps it's time you found out about that."  
A hologram-like image appeared on the fog between Darien and Zetax, a glowing black energy border surrounding it's outer edges. Darien gasped in surprise as images of his parents driving along in the dead of night, Zetax crouched on the roof of the vehicle like some kind of other-worldly vampire, appeared on the projection.  
"Watch closely; this is my favorite part." Zetax laughed.  
In the hologram, Zetax leapt down onto the hood of the car, plunging both swords through the hood deep into the engine. The blades passed through the hood like phantoms but apparently did very real damage to the engine itself. Zetax then turned without a second's hesitation to cleanly slice open a nearby guard rail that the car was about to go into, sending the vehicle and everyone inside off the edge of a cliff. Zetax's image back flipped off the car just as it's back wheels went over the edge.  
Suddenly, a white and gold blur shot out of the night below the cliff, passing with ease through the car and throwing young Darien out through the right-hand door and into the nearby tree. Zetax wasted no time, leaping off the cliff with his swords aimed at Darien's still-falling body. Kai spun and managed to get in the way of Zetax's assault by tackling the dark warrior like a football player. The two grappled, slashing and slamming each other as they floated in mid-air. Meanwhile, young Darien's limp body fell through the tree branches with little resistance and hit the ground hard. Zetax, assuming his mission was complete, broke from the combat with Kai and vanished into the night.  
"And that... is how it happened." Zetax muttered, then suddenly became more bold. "I may not have finished you last time, prince, but I assure you that this time will be different!" He challenged, drawing his twin ninja swords.  
"You... you MURDERER!" Serena exclaimed.  
"Oh, I don't want you to feel left out, princess." Zetax stated smugly as Serena leveled her scepter at him. "I was also there on the moon that fateful night that my servant Queen Beryl destroyed your precious Silver Millennium. I've always been there, plotting, planning, seeing how best to destroy you and your pitiful band, and now at last you're getting your chance to meet your worst foe."  
"...W...what... what are you?!" Mina exclaimed.  
"So many questions. Don't you Scouts get it yet? I AM NEGAFORCE! I am the ultimate emissary of evil, the kind of foe too powerful for you to begin to comprehend! And at last, I will have my long-awaited revenge!"  
With that he lunged forward, swords ready to strike Darien down with a single lethal blow.  
"Moon Scepter Elimination!" Serena screamed as Darien evaded Zetax's initial attack but was suddenly sent to the ground with a follow-up spin kick. The beam of energy passed harmlessly through Zetax's upper torso, vanishing into the darkness far behind him.  
"You don't get it, do you?" Phalyn laughed. "We are invincible to your *puny* brand of weapons! Now prepare to die!"  
"You stay out of this, Phalyn; this is my fight." Zetax instructed.  
  
Jason began praying. He, somehow, knew in his spirit that something was going drastically wrong with the rescue mission. He wanted badly to get on the nearest bus and get over there to help, but he'd made his promise to Mina.  
As he prayed, six figures standing on his roof listened in. Two wore greenish armor, one of which looked to be camouflage designed, and had massive, dark skinned muscles. One of them bore powerful looking golden armor and had a likewise golden sword at his side. His white beard and mustache flowed together with his hair and his deep brown eyes were aglow with white power. The one next to him bore blue armor, course semi-long brown hair, and penetrating brown eyes. Nearby stood two similar warriors, one of which bore a kind of metallic purple armor and the other intense white. The one in white had long flowing white hair and her eyes were perfectly white at the moment, symbolizing power flowing through her. The other, his twin ninja swords ready at his sides, had semi-long black hair and glowing dark purple eyes.  
They waited and listened, waiting for a chosen champion from amongst the remnant to appear. With a flash of white light, the white-cloaked figure appeared.  
"My friends,... it is time." He stated, a white-energy sword materializing in his hand.  
"At last!" Namor stated, his sword suddenly appearing in his hands as well. "Now to do some damage."  
"First the rescue mission, though." Seti stated, suddenly holding her sword as well. "We must not allow Zetax to kill prince Darien, or the future may well die with him."  
"What are we waiting here for, then?" Cameron stated, his sword likewise ready. "I agree with Namor; it's time to do some damage."  
"Starting with Zetax and Phalyn." Kai stated, then nodded in silent salute to the white clad figure. "Consider it done."  
"Use caution, angels." He replied. "Zetax is stronger than any of you may suspect."  
  
"How long do you honestly think you can cheat death, 'princey'?" Zetax scoffed, taking another wide swing at Darien with his swords. Darien, his cape torn to shreds and several small cuts on his arms and legs, managed to dodge with a quick jump-and-roll to the side. "I'd use my *real* powers on you, but where's the challenge in *that*?"  
"Venus Love Chain Harness!" Mina retaliated, but as expected the attack passed harmlessly through Zetax.  
"Wait your turn." He instructed, pointing a single finger at her. As if hit by a rush of wind, Mina was thrown violently backwards, disappearing far into the fog.  
"Mina!" Serena exclaimed.  
"He sure has a way with women, huh Sailor Moon?" Phalyn laughed. "Face facts; you're all history unless you surrender."  
"Never!" Serena screamed, leveling her Scepter at Phalyn.  
"Not even to save your precious friends?" Phalyn suddenly held a small glowing ball of energy which quickly became a holographic image. There were Amara, Michelle, Hotaru, and Tristal, tied one next to the other to the rafters of the warehouse. Rei, Amy, and Lita were just barely visible behind them. "They will die if you refuse to surrender. We'd much rather take the Silver Crystal from you than simply destroy you and it. Your call, 'Sailor sap'."  
"You're a liar and a con artist, Phalyn." Said a semi-elderly voice from in the distance. Serena spun to see six sword-bearing multi-colored warriors emerge from out of the dark mist.  
"Oh look," Phalyn laughed. "It's the 'Power Rangers'! Get lost, warriors; you can't win this fight."  
"We'll see about that, Phalyn." Namor challenged, sword ready.  
"Seti," Kai instructed. "Get the Sailor Soldiers out of here; we'll deal with these scum."  
"Nobody's going anywhere!" Zetax barked, black flames bursting into existence around his fists and sword. "Prepare to meet your worst nightmare, warriors!"  
Sudden sparks of black electricity burst into being amongst the flames, then without warning shot out with incredible accuracy and struck each of the ArchAngels without mercy. Seti managed to dodge, forming a white shield in front of her, but all the others were blown backwards by the attack's power. Zetax aimed one fist at Seti, black energy thick as steel blasting outwards towards her and hitting her with a huge explosion. Zetax laughed in evil victory.  
"Really now, was that the *best* you clowns could do to stop me? What weaklings!"  
Suddenly, a white energy sword appeared behind Zetax, slicing air downwards at his left shoulder. The blade cleanly cut the entire shoulder off, sending black blood spewing out as the arm fell to the ground, dropping it's sword. Zetax roared in pain and turned to face his adversary, meeting the cloaked warrior's next strike blow for blow. Serena and Darien looked in utter disgust as the fallen arm shriveled up like a sponge, forming a puddle of black ooze just before disintegrating.  
"You again!" Zetax roared in blinding rage as he and the white warrior battled fiercely. "You'll pay for that, you insolent wretch!"  
Phalyn leapt into action, but no sooner had he tried to blast at the warrior with a beam of red flames than he suddenly found himself hit by a beam of green light from a now-standing Dareus. The white warrior managed to dodge Phalyn's attack with a back flip, but by the time he'd landed Zetax's arm was suddenly healed like as if there had never been an injury. The two met in a clash of swords and energy, sending sparks and small explosions up everywhere. Meanwhile, Phalyn had a lot on his hands as a half-healed Dareus and Cameron did their best to shish-kabob him with their swords.  
"Quick, get out of here!" Namor, barely able to stand, instructed. He pointed his sword and suddenly a white vortex began to form. "Get out, now! It's your only chance!"  
"What about you?" Serena questioned.  
"We will stay and hold them back as long as we can." Namor stated. "We're guardians; it's our job. Now go!"  
"But what about Mina?!" Serena exclaimed.  
"Serena, we have to go, now!" Darien instructed, dashing into the vortex as best he could with his injuries and dragging Serena behind him. They vanished into the vortex and it closed behind them with a flash.  
"They're safe!" The white-cloaked figure shouted, his swords deadlocked with Zetax's. "Now get out of here; I'll hold them off!"  
With that, the angels dashed off into the shadowy darkness, each vanishing in a flash of white. Dareus carried an unconscious Seti on his massive shoulders, dodging red energy blasts from Phalyn before vanishing along with the others. Zetax back flipped a few dozen feet away from the white warrior as Phalyn aimed once more for the mysterious figure.  
"Ha! You really are a fool, human. You may have taken prince Darien and his princess from my grasp, but I still have princess Mina here at my mercy!"  
"Mercy, you? Fat chance." The warrior replied.  
"You don't get it, do you? Your little rescue mission failed to rescue all of my targets. Now I can easily bring your prized warrior Jason to his knees!"  
"Does the God who created the universes, heavens, and all realms make mistakes, Zetax? All things are subject to His divine plan, and nothing you do will stop it."  
"You mean to tell me you *intended* to leave Mina here for me to use as bait? HA! And you call yourself a warrior of God!"  
"Your cheap lies have no place inside of me anymore, Zetax. Your time is coming." With that, the warrior faded away into nothingness. Zetax sheathed his swords as Phalyn joined at his side.  
"You planned to use Mina to capture Jason? How?" Phalyn inquired.  
"All in time, Phalyn. For now, gather our forces; the final battle draws near."  
Chapter 27- The Trade  
  
"My my, what a catch." Valerra stated, looking over the seven Scouts hanging limply by energy ropes to the ceiling. "Seven Sailor Scouts, powerless and brought to their knees in utter defeat. I don't think the Negaverse has ever had it so good."  
"What do you intend to do with them?" Alexis inquired. "The longer we let them live, the longer they're a threat to us, even without their powers."  
"I suggest we brainwash them into servants of the Negaforce. Having all seven of them on our side may prove useful." Azurite stated  
"That will take time." Valerra stated. "It took my sister weeks to get prince Darien under her control; how much more time do you think it will take for these seven?"  
"The end result would be well worth it, though." Azurite proposed.  
"All in good time, I suppose. First, to finish my collection." Valerra mused.  
"Looking for this?" Phalyn suddenly appeared, pointing downwards towards one of the boxes. There, laying unconscious on the top of the box, was Mina. "I believe that should complete your Sailor Scouts collection."  
"Well well, Phalyn finally comes through." Valerra laughed. "Better late than never. True, my Sailor collection is rather full at the moment,... but there's one more open space in my Cyber collection that needs to be filled."  
  
Jason was asleep at his house, nightmares plaguing him all over again. First it was the voices, then he was suddenly surrounded by an army of living shadows bent on destruction. He tossed and turned and cried out in his sleep, but the nightmare refused to leave him alone.  
Suddenly, a very real hand reached out and landed a punch square in Jason's stomach. He instantly snapped awake to see Azurite standing over him, a smug look on his face.  
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?" He scoffed.  
Jason wasted no time on talk. With surprise on his side, Jason easily landed a kick square in Azurite's stomach, sending him falling backwards. Jason grabbed Tasha's staff out from beneath the bed and got ready for a fight as Azurite got to his feet.  
"You've got a lot of nerve coming here after what you've done to my friends." Jason challenged. "Let me guess, you were trying to kidnap me like you did to Rei, huh?"  
"You don't have a clue, brat." Azurite challenged, drawing out his sword.  
"What he does have, though, is friends in high places." Said a voice out of the shadows. Jason and Azurite both spun to see the mysterious figure that called himself 'a voice' standing in the room's sole doorway. "Now put the sword down, Azurite, and say what you came here to say."  
"Who the heck are you supposed to be?" Azurite demanded.  
"You'll get the same answer Valerra got to that question: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness 'prepare the way...'." He replied cryptically. "Now say what you have come here to say and be done with it."  
"What???" Jason inquired, not understanding what he was hearing.  
"What do you know about all this?" Azurite demanded.  
"I know that you've come to give Jason a message. So, let's hear it." The figure pressed.  
Azurite mumbled something under his breath before turning to face Jason.  
"You know, brat, your little rescue plan didn't turn out so well." Azurite cackled. "If you ever want to see your precious Sailor Venus again, you'll go to the Starlight tower before the sun rises and surrender yourself to Valerra and myself. I'll be waiting for you."  
"What have you done to her, you merciless tyrant?!" Jason demanded.  
"Nothing just yet..." He smirked maniacally. "But if you don't show up by sunrise..."  
"You leave her alone!" Jason threatened, fist shaking.  
"Ooh, is that a threat? What do you think you can do to me, punk? Use your *sister's* staff? What a joke!"  
"You won't think it's so funny soon enough!"  
"Oh, is that so?"  
The argument was suddenly broken up as the mysterious figure stepped in-between the two.  
"You've said what you came to say." He glared angrily at Azurite. "Now go."  
"Just who do you think you are??" Azurite returned angrily.  
"Ask Valerra; she should remember me well." He replied, pointing one finger straight at Zetax's forehead. "Now, unless you want to see what I'm capable of at this kind of range, I recommend you go."  
Electricity sparked on the warrior's fingers and Azurite decided to go while the going was good. He locked a glower on Jason, then jumped easily out a nearby window. Without warning, the figure then turned to Jason, a scolding tone in his voice.  
"It is written that where there are many words, error abounds. Choose your arguments more carefully; he was just waiting for an excuse to try to kill you."  
"You really know your Bible." Jason observed. "I've been thinking carefully lately-"  
"That argument you had with Azurite seems to say otherwise."  
"Yeah, I guess I wasn't thinking that much." Jason muttered, then turned with more confidence to the figure. "I do, though, think I know who you are. You're-"  
"Your wisdom has revealed much to you, Jason, but seal up the understanding of my role deep within yourself. It is not yet time for me to be... unmasked." The figure turned away, almost as if ashamed, but his voice showed no lack of confidence. "What is important now is that you rescue Mina. Don't worry about her safety; I'll make certain that she and the other captured Scouts are not harmed beyond what's happened presently..."  
"What about Serena?"  
"... I cannot guarantee her safety, nor when the eventual final battle comes will I be able to fight for her. God's plan must have it's way; almost everything rests on... the one chosen to face this fight. For now, though, you don't have much time to waste. You must go, now, if you're to beat the sunrise deadline."  
  
Ten minutes later, Jason was running like a lunatic through Tokyo towards the Starlight tower. Sweat dripped off his forehead as he went, but nothing would stop him from protecting Mina. Not even his injuries, barely considerable as half-healed, could slow him down tonight. The light of the silver crescent moon bounced off his face as he tore down sidewalks, past closed buildings, and off into the night. He'd deliberately left Tasha's staff in his room, deciding that there was no way he would let that fall into Valerra and Zetax's hands. He dashed past and under a series of street lights that half-illuminated the sidewalk before dashing around a corner. The sky was a slowly lightening navy blue over his head and, visible only from the Starlight tower, the very tip of the sun was beginning to find it's way over the horizon.  
"Hang on, Mina. I won't let you down, I swear it!"  
  
"In about twenty minutes he'll be late." Alexis stated, looking at her watch. The room was Negaverse darkened, black fog all but hiding the room's doors, leaving the windows strangely exempt. Valerra stood in one corner, the containers that held Kevin and Zack's limp bodies just behind her as well as a third, empty container. Nearby, floating an inch or so off the ground in a black stasis bubble of Nega-energy, Mina hung motionless and weightless. Azurite stood in the opposite corner nearest the door, cracking his knuckles anxiously. "We may just have to follow through on our promise and kill the little twerp."  
"He'll be here." Azurite assured.  
"I'm here now." Jason exclaimed, throwing the door open.  
"Took you long enough." Alexis muttered. "Do you always have to make an entrance?"  
"I take it you've decided to agree to my terms." Valerra stated. "You surrender yourself, we let your precious... *powerless* Sailor girlfriend go. After all, she's of no consequence anymore, and you are the only person left who can use the Cyber Crystal. That makes you a small, but needing to be dealt with, threat."  
"On one condition:" Jason said, looking at Mina semi-sadly. "Let me spend five minutes with her first. They we make the trade."  
"Ooh, do you have to?" Valerra sounded annoyed. "Look, I'd hate to waste crystal power destroying you, but don't waste my time either. I *do* have a world to conquer, you know."  
"Just five minutes." Jason pleaded.  
Valerra sighed.  
"Five minutes *exactly*, starting when we say. Alexis, time him and make sure he doesn't try anything." Valerra instructed, waving her hand and causing the bubble around Mina to slowly disappear. She fell slowly to the ground and Jason rushed over to her, but Azurite suddenly stepped in his way.  
"Not until we say so, kid. Remember that?" He inquired, smiling smugly.  
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Jason accused under his breath.  
"You'd better believe it."  
"Five minutes, starting..." Alexis looked at her watch, waiting for another minute to actually start. "Now. OK, go ahead, *Ex-Genesis*." She laughed a little as Azurite stepped out of Jason's way. Jason didn't spend time giving Azurite the look he had in mind, instead rushing over to Mina as she began to open her eyes.  
Valerra watched them like a hawk. There was no way she was going to let these two try anything.  
  
Chapter 28- And Then There Was One  
  
"... Jason? Is that you? Really you?" Mina inquired as she slowly, painfully began to get up.  
"Yes, it's me. Don't try to move too much, you might hurt yourself." He said, trying to calm her as she suddenly saw Azurite, Alexis, and Valerra in the room. "Don't worry, everything's alright."  
"Jason, what's happening? Where are we? Where's Serena and Darien and the others? Where's Zetax? What happened?"  
"Serena's alright, for the moment, and I don't know about Darien and the others. You saw Zetax?"  
"Oh Jason, it was a nightmare! One minute we were in the warehouse, the next we were in he Negaverse and Zetax was trying to kill Darien and... Jason, it was just horrible. Nothing effected him! We didn't stand a chance!"  
"Three minutes." Alexis mumbled.  
"W-w-what?" Mina was silent for a moment, a stunned look frozen on her face. She turned to Jason, a look of disbelief and partial fear coming over her. "... You're trading yourself for me? Jason,-"  
"It was the only way. I couldn't let you die at their hands, not if there was something I could do about it."  
"Jason, don't do this!" She pleaded. "I would never forgive myself if you died because of me. I love you, Jason; don't do this, please!"  
"What kind of a person would I be if I didn't?" Jason replied, a loving look in his eyes. "No greater love has anyone than this: that they give up their life for the people they care about. I could speak a thousand languages, even that of angels, but without love I'm nothing more than a noise. I could have faith that destroys mountains and do incredible miracles, I could have all the riches of the world and everything that exists, but what good is it all without love? That's why I couldn't let you die, Mina. I love you from the bottom of my heart and I could never let them hurt you. I kept my promise, but now I need to keep a promise I made long before that, a promise that I would let no evil hurt you and that I'd come back to you."  
"Jason..." She cried and cried. "Don't leave me, please..."  
"Sshh..." He took her hands in his, trying to comfort her. "Maybe it's not over yet. Only God knows for certain."  
"Oh, it's over alright." Valerra chimed in. "You two make me wanna puke. I've never heard so many freakin' Bible verses crammed into one paragraph. Your time's almost up, twerps. Say goodbye and shut up already so I can get on with my mission."  
"Be strong, Mina." Jason said, holding her hands tighter. "For me, and for Serena."  
He let go of her hands a few seconds before Alexis's watch hit the five minute mark. She nodded to Valerra in silent communication.  
"Time's up." She pointed one finger squarely at him. "Now don't resist me or this won't work and we'll have to kill your girlfriend anyways, got it?"  
"Yeah, I got it." Jason stated as a black bubble formed around him. Sudden zaps of black electricity struck him mercilessly from the bubble's inner surface, sending itself coursing through his body as he convulsed under the painful shocks. He screamed in utter torment as Mina watched in horror, electricity draining all the energy out of him in a matter of seconds. He collapsed as the electric shocks died out, and with a sudden snapping of fingers from Valerra his body disappeared and rematerialized inside the one remaining cylinder, floating limply amongst the transparent black liquid. Valerra turned to Alexis.  
"Take the little 'love Scout' outside and let her out in the alley. She's of no consequence anymore."  
  
"Where are we?" Serena inquired as she and Darien rematerialized on a high rooftop. The sun was just now starting to pull over the horizon, slowly flooding the world with it's light. "Who were those people? Where's Mina?"  
"I... I don't know, Serena. Mina must still be back there, in the Negaverse." Darien stuttered. "Could it possibly be true? Was the Negaforce responsible for killing my parents?"  
"It is true." Came a voice. Serena and Darien turned to see a shadowed form silhouetted against the rising sun. His cloak blew gently in the morning winds. "The being you know as Negaforce was responsible for the death of your parents."  
"You!" Serena gasped in surprise. "You saved us from the Negaforce back there!"  
"Who are you? Where do you come from?" Darien inquired. "Do you know what happened to Mina and the others?"  
"I am a voice. Like the wind, which comes from obscurity and travels throughout the earth, so am I." He replied. "Mina is safe for the time being, although now powerless, and I will assure that she remains safe. The others were captured by Valerra and her forces. I cannot tell you whether or not they are dead."  
"Dead?!" Serena exclaimed. "Please, you've got to tell me; are they alive?"  
"I told you that I cannot tell you, and it shall remain as such." He replied.  
Suddenly, a sound that spelled the doom of a strong warrior echoed throughout existence.  
"... The truth shall set you free..."  
It was Jason's voice. Serena, surprised and shocked, looked at the figure for answers.  
"Why Jason? Why now?" Darien exclaimed. "He wasn't even *at* the warehouse."  
"He was forced to trade himself to rescue Mina from Valerra. It was... the only way." He turned from them and looked out into the rising morning. Suddenly, Serena spotted a thick, dark cloud forming out by what appeared to be the horizon. With another glance, though, she realized it was not in the distance, but rather forming itself from the very top of the Starlight tower. She gasped in utter surprise.  
"What's happening?" She exclaimed.  
"Valerra is preparing for her final move. The Negaforce itself is likely to become involved in this fight." He turned and looked straight at Serena. "You, of course, are her ultimate target."  
"But, but I'm not strong enough." Serena began to cry, tears filling her eyes. "I knew this was going to happen... it's just like against Queen Beryl..."  
"Can't you help us against her?" Darien inquired. "How do you expect us to win on our own, just the two of us against their entire army and Valerra's CyberShadow Crystal??"  
"I cannot intervene for you this time. What will happen will happen," He turned away. "And even I am powerless to stand in it's way."  
"I can't do it..." Serena wept. "There's no possible way I can face her on my own."  
"Be strong, princess." The figure stated, then leapt off the side of the building, vanishing in mid-air. Darien rushed to the side and screamed after him, despite the fact that he was already gone.  
"You coward!" He accused. "Come back here and fight!"  
The figure rematerialized in secret, standing on a fire escape a good distance behind Serena and Darien, where they wouldn't see him.  
"You're right, princess." He thought out loud. "You cannot face this battle on your own."  
  
People fled in terror as a massive army of Cyborgs, both Valerra's forces as well as Azurite and Alexis's army joining together to practically fill the area surrounding the Starlight tower. Darkness spread from the tower's top to cover the city like a cloud, blotting out sunlight as if it had never existed. The remaining four Doom and Gloom Girls circled around the scene like hawks, carefully on the lookout for the arrival of their appointed, weakened nemesis. Azurite and Alexis stood on the ground by the base of the tower, observing the army like one observes a precious jewel. Azurite held Saturn's bladed staff in his hands, along with Saturn, Jupiter, and Rei's transformers attached to his belt. Alexis held Pluto's staff, now darkened by her control, and had Michelle, Amy, and Mina's transformers attached to her waist and glowing with dark power.  
High above the whole scene, floating a good foot above the top of the Starlight tower, was Valerra herself. In her hands she held the CyberShadow Crystal, it's black-energy side seemingly more powerful than ever. She observed the city through the visor of her helmet, a look like that of a conquer on the edge of ultimate victory hidden behind the high-tech armor headgear.  
"I know you're out there somewhere, Sailor Moon!" She shouted, her voice suddenly amplified like as if someone had given her a megaphone. "Come and face me, and know the meaning of true fear!"  
Just behind her, invisible to her, stood Phalyn and Zetax. They hovered in mid-air, and Zetax held in his hands a sharp, multi-pointed black crystal like a mace-head. It glowed with black, blue, and red energy as it hovered an inch over his hand.  
"She's on her way." Zetax laughed in a low voice. He turned to Phalyn. "Now you'll get a chance to see power beyond anything you've ever seen before." He held the crystal high so every demon for miles could see as energy flared off of it's surface in preparation for it's quick-coming use. "Behold, the Chaos Crystal! It's physical form was destroyed eons ago, but I managed to rescue it's spiritual counterpart."  
"I say 'let the show begin'." Phalyn enthused in a calm voice.  
Zetax shot high into the air, a trail of black energy following him like a shockwave as he cut through layer after layer of atmosphere. At last, when he breached the cloud barrier at the uppermost levels of the atmosphere, he activated the crystal.  
First his body metamorphasized into pure black energy, his eyes glowing with a new, intense, dark blue power. His body stretched and contorted, his armor shattering and his ninja-like cloth battle suit shredding as he grew larger and larger. At last, nothing remained except a massive corona of black energy that was his new, ultimate form. He shot downwards towards the earth, now plainly visible by all the inhabitants of Tokyo throughout the city, and descended downwards onto the very top of the Starlight tower, absorbing Valerra inside of himself.  
It was time. The players had been positioned, the final moves made.  
Or so it seemed. Darkness consumed the city as Sailor Moon and Darien made their way towards the center of it all, knowing full well that they may not return alive.  
  
Chapter 29- Return  
  
What no one had seen happen, what none of them could have anticipated, what not even the ArchAngel army who now braced themselves for the inevitable clash knew was that a white cloaked figure had made his way unnoticed into the Starlight tower. He now stood before the three containers that held Jason, Kevin, and Zack, with Tasha's staff ready in his hand. At his feet lay a half-dozen piles of dust that, one minute ago, had been powerful Negaverse Cyborgs.  
"It does not end like this." He stated as pure white energy like the embodiment of sunlight surrounded his open hand. "Arise, warriors of the light! The day of the vengence of your God has arrived."  
Suddenly, three brilliant white lights glowed from deep within each of the three. Energy the color of their Cyber powers began to surround their bodies as a living current welled up within each. Jason's light, however, barely shone in comparison to the other two.  
"First, to bring freedom to prisoners."  
The containers shattered, sending black liquid spilling out onto the floor.  
"Now, to bind up the brokenhearted."  
Suddenly, Jason was awake. He looked around in stunned silence, then saw the white-cloaked figure and looked directly at him questioningly.  
"You said it yourself, Jason. Perhaps it isn't over yet. Only God knows for certain." He held out the staff as Jason and the others stepped down out of the open tanks. "I've made sure Mina was well hidden from all of this, but unless Valerra is stopped now, at this critical battle, not even she will be safe for long. Now, take hold of what has been prepared for you since the beginning."  
Without a word, Jason took the staff. A swell of neon-green power suddenly shot out from inside it, surrounding his body with light so intense that Kevin and Zack had to shield their eyes. When the light faded, Jason was in his CyberStar armor, but the armor and the staff's colors now flowed like liquid energy, in the same way Tasha's did. His full-body armor pulsed super-fast between a million shades of green and an intense, burning white energy, leaving only his visor the same. He held the staff ready in his hands as suddenly, with a flash of white light, Kevin and Zack's pure heart crystals appeared and their Cyber armor began to materialize on their bodies. They both drew their swords, and were both surprised and thrilled to see that the blades were now an intense energy white.  
"The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon you all, because He has anointed you." The figure stated. "I cannot fight with you in this battle, but remember that now you three are Serena's only hope."  
"We won't fail you, we promise." Jason stated, then turned to Kevin and Zack. "Alright guys, let's go."  
"Jason, wait!" The figure called back, causing the three to stop dead in their steps. "Know this: only one can defeat Valerra. The others *will* fall."  
  
"She's here." Valerra thought to herself.  
The armies of evil tensened. They could all feel it. They knew this feeling, even if they couldn't describe it.  
Something, something not of the Negaverse, had arrived. With so much negative power all around, it was almost impossible to miss the feeling that shouted Serena's arrival. It was like one small flame in the midst of a dark room; impossible to ignore.  
  
"Darien, I'm not sure if I can do it." Serena stated, clinging in fear to Darien as the two looked on at the cloud of evil and the Negaforce superpower Chaos that dominated the darkness like a centerpiece. "But.. What choice do we have? I'm so scared..."  
"We need to be strong, Serena." Darien tried with little effect to reassure her. He was about to say more when suddenly something pierced the darkness for a moment.  
  
"What the-!!!" The D&G Girls all looked up at the same moment, all feeling the same sudden, unexpected disturbance at the same time. Azurite and Alexis had felt it too and now looked up in surprise.  
Valerra, caught completely off guard, cussed in sudden disbelief as three glowing forms suddenly shot out of the Starlight tower like energy and landed on a nearby rooftop.  
'It... it can't be!' Zetax thought to himself before he remembered the amount of power at his disposal. 'Well, what an interesting turn of events.'  
"Impossible!" Valerra exclaimed. "This can't be happening!"  
"It's happening alright!" Jason shouted. "All things are possible through Jesus, and I'm living proof!"  
"Not for long, you won't be!" The lead Doom and Gloom Girl shouted. "We wasted you twerps once and we'll do it again!"  
"Don't bet on it! Returning to save the world by the power of a redeemed heart, I am Sailor Cosmic Genesis!" Jason exclaimed, holding his staff high as he charged for a super attack.  
"Back to put evil in it's place, I am Sailor CyberStar Exodus!" Kevin shouted in utter defiance at Valerra.  
"Back to unleash righteous judgement on the forces of darkness, I am Sailor CyberStar Apocalypse!"  
"Yeah, we kinda knew most of that already." Valerra scoffed, aiming the CyberShadow Crystal at the three. "At least now I'll remember what to write on your tombstones. Bye now."  
"You'll have to catch us first!" Jason shouted as the three dodged a blast of black energy. Jason leapt down into the middle of the Cyborg swarm, deflecting random black beam attacks with his staff before landing. "Genesis Protective Cloud!" He shouted, the Cyborgs unable to touch him as the green and white cloud suddenly burst into being. With that in place, Jason made his next move. "Genesis Power Storm!"  
The attack Jason had been charging up for lashed out and spread through the armies of evil like electricity through water, turning every Cyborg nearby and at least a couple dozen who were more than a hundred feet from him to dust. Jason focused hard, clenching his fists tight around the staff, and suddenly even more tidal waves of green electricity exploded out of the energy cloud, KOing Cyborgs at twice the range of the previous blasts. The thunderous energy died out, and the remains of the army swarmed at Jason.  
"He's been taking some lessons from his sister." Valerra thought to herself. "No matter, they don't stand a chance."  
Meanwhile, Kevin and Zack had taken up the battle against the Doom and Gloom Girls, making full use of their Hydro Force Divide and Specter Strike attacks, as well as Flaming Hailstorm Ignite and Phantom Plague Surround when the moment demanded. Azurite and Alexis suddenly joined the battle as Zack vaporized one of the four Girls, aiming their stolen staffs at the two Cyber Scouts while they were preoccupied with the remaining D&G Girls.  
"It's lights out for you two Scouts." Azurite said in a low voice as he sliced his staff's blade around through the air, sending out ribbons of black and blue Nega-energy at the unnoticing Cyber Scouts.  
Suddenly, a wide beam of light out of nowhere countered the glowing ribbons, pushing them back until each ribbon one by one slammed unguidedly into the ground. Without a second's warning, another beam cut one of the D&G Girls in half, sending the half-dusted pieces hurtling to the ground.  
"How dare you use my friends' powers to cause destruction and turmoil!" Shouted a familiar female voice out of the shadows. It was quickly accompanied by a masculine voice. "We'll teach you a lesson about respecting others' possessions!"  
"Let's see here..." Valerra thought out loud. "Two voices out of the shadows, one feminine and one masculine. *I wonder who it could be*." She scoffed. "Could it be,... Batman and Batgirl? Maybe it's two of the Power Rangers? Or could it be" She stated, her unfunny humorous tone dying out. "Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask? *I wonder...*"  
"We stand for love and justice!" Serena stated, suddenly stepping out of the shadows on a nearby rooftop.  
"And we won't let evil like you take over our world!" Darien stated, appearing on another rooftop nearby.  
"Oh, how *boringly* repetitive." Valerra mocked. "Doom and Gloom Girls! Forget about those two twits and get that masked loser in a bad tux!"  
The two remaining creatures shot into action, evading multiple scepter blasts and thrown roses from Serena and Darien. Their arms became vines and they whipped straight out at Darien and Serena. At close range, Serena was able to moon dust one of them, but not before the other one suddenly had Darien wrapped up in it's vines. Without sparing a second it flew off towards the tower, dragging Darien along in mid-air.  
"Darien! No!" She dashed off after him, but without warning Valerra suddenly appeared in front of her. Serena took a step back in surprise but didn't waste time on chatter. "Moon Scepter Elimination!"  
"Ha; pathetic!" Valerra caught the beam in her hand and sent it flying off at the rooftop where Kevin and Zack were. With no warning at all, they were unprepared as the blast shattered the whole rooftop, sending them plummeting to the ground far below.  
"Oh no!" Serena exclaimed as they and a massive swarm of rocks and debris hit the ground, sending up a pile on top of them. "What have you done?!!"  
"More like what have *you* done, Sailor twerp." Valerra stated, floating in the air just a few feet away from Serena. "And if you think that's bad, wait until you see that I do to Genesis."  
"What have you done with Darien?" She accused, scepter still ready. "Tell me!"  
"He's probably inside the tower by now. He should be fun to have around once I bring out his more... *negative* side."  
"How do you know about that?!" Serena gasped.  
  
Chapter 30- Ultimate Destiny  
  
"I guess you wouldn't be able to guess with all this armor covering over who I really am, Sailor moon." Valerra stated. "So I'll be generous and spell it out to ya. I am Queen Beryl's sister, and you killed my sister, Sailor Moon."  
Serena's mouth hung open in utter disbelief. Beryl's sister? Even so, to have known about the battle against Beryl Valerra would have to have been there in the polar north Negaverse base either during or after it happened, but that was utterly impossible!  
"Surprised? You should be. It wasn't easy to survive what your crystal did to that base in the arctic, but I did. Do you have any idea how many of *my friends* you destroyed, Sailor scumbag? You can't begin to imagine. So you know what I've decided to do to you?"  
"I'll tell you, mostly because there isn't a thing you can do to stop it." Valerra stated, subtle rage in her voice. "The first stage of my plan was get a crystal even more powerful than yours. Turns out I got two that are slightly less powerful, but just wait until you see what I can do with them together. Stage two was to tear your friends right out from under you, just like you did to me." She clenched one fist and held it up at Serena's face. "And now, we begin the final stage of my long-awaited revenge."  
"You're crazy!" Serena exclaimed.  
"Just you wait and see what I do to your friends, Sailor Moon!" With that she vanished, suddenly appearing right behind Jason. Serena had no chance to stop her; without a second's warning she blasted Jason with an intense, massive beam of energy from the CyberShadow Crystal. Jason never saw it coming. His limp body was thrown straight through the wall of a nearby building, and with a few more well-aimed blasts from Valerra the entire building suddenly collapsed down on him.  
"Nooo!" Serena screamed in tormented horror.  
The unthinkable had happened. All three Cyber Scouts had fallen, utterly destroyed by Valerra's incredible powers. Chaos had yet to lift a finger, and yet it seemed as though Valerra was on the verge of winning. Serena couldn't believe what had happened. First Rei, Amy, and Lita, then Amara, Michelle, Hotaru, Tristal, and Mina, now Darien and the Cyber Scouts. Valerra was too strong, but the only thing that stood between the mistress of evil and the death of the Sailor Scouts was Serena.  
Valerra rematerialized on the rooftop where Serena stood, black energy pulsing through her armor.  
"Why are you doing this to me??!" Serena exclaimed, fear barely audible in her voice. "Why did you leave me and destroy them??!"  
For a long moment, Valerra was silent. She simply stood there, a menacing figure of terror, with Chaos itself visible behind her. The CyberShadow Crystal glowed with dark power as she held it firmly in her hand.  
"Because death alone would never be payback enough for the murderer who killed my sister. You may act like you're fighting for truth and justice, little Ms. Moon-head, but you know... you know that all you've been fighting for is to protect yourself and your friends and the people you care about. You could care less if evil tyrants control countries here on this earth with weapons capable of annihilating mass populations, you haven't done a thing to stop the likes of Sadam Hussain and the militaristic dictators that slaughter all who oppose them. All you care about is your little 'bubble'; the part of the world you can conceive and effects you." She accused, then became sarcastic. "God forbid the Negaverse should attack!, but where are you when world leaders are assassinated? Face it, Sailor Moon 'the champion of justice', you're a fraud!"  
Serena was cut to the quick. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sure, when she first became Sailor Moon she wanted to do something to change the way her world operated, but the prevalent threat was always the Negaverse. In-between battles she always tried to forget her role as a super hero and live a normal life, hoping that she as Sailor Moon would set an example that the whole world would one day follow. After she discovered her future as Neo Queen Serenity, all thought of setting the nations straight flew right out of her head, assuming that one day under her leadership things would change themselves. Now, Valerra's words pierced her heart, shattering her confidence. She began to doubt herself; why hadn't she tried to stop those things?  
"All you care about is your own little bubble, Sailor Moon." Valerra admonished wickedly. "Well guess what? Do you have any idea how many other people's 'bubbles' you've shattered? You call me the evil one in this fight, but I say you're nothing but an irresponsible brat who only cares about herself. Which one of us is evil now, Sailor Moon?"  
With those soul crippling words, Valerra teleported out of sight for a second, reappearing on the very top of the Starlight tower. Chaos's energy surged into her as suddenly the sky turned an icy blue, the buildings vanished, and Serena was suddenly standing on a pillar of ice instead of a building in Tokyo city. It was exactly the same scene as when Serena had faced Queen Beryl. A cold wind suddenly sent a chill up Serena's spine as Valerra, now standing likewise on top of a pillar of ice that was twice as tall as Serena's, readied her crystal for use.  
"Now,... you... are... finished, Sailor Moon!" Valerra shouted, leveling the CyberShadow Crystal straight at Serena. With Chaos's power amplifying the crystal's own powers, Serena could only begin to imagine the awesome power now at Valerra's disposal. With a scream of rage, Valerra unleashed a monstrously huge beam of solid black energy straight at Serena.  
Serena offered no resistance.  
The beam hit, sending Serena off the pillar of ice and flying towards the icy ground below. Valerra was not satisfied, though. She shot into the air, keeping the beam focused on Serena's falling body as black electricity shot thought them both. Serena hit the ground with the beam still striking her, sending up a massive whirlwind of snowy fury. Valerra would not yet relent. The beam continued to drill it's way through the snow for several more minutes before at last Valerra exhausted it's power supply.  
With that, the illusion instantly shattered, unveiling the darkened city of Tokyo once more. Serena lay in a massive crater in the ground, her scepter shattered and her costume partially shredded. Black electricity still coursed through her body, causing her to convulse randomly for several minutes before it began to wear off. Her eyes were completely dark, no color left in them at all. The Silver Crystal had no energy left inside it, and it lay shattered on the ground nearby.  
Sailor Moon was dead.  
Valerra floated slowly down to where the body lay.  
"Burn in hell, Moon brat. Burn." She said, then spat in Serena's face.  
Chaos roared in evil victory. The few Cyborgs that remained shouted and cheered Valerra on as she walked over and further crushed the Silver Crystal underneath her foot, sending a small shard flying a few inches when she stepped on it. In the spiritual realm, Phalyn and the demonic hoards under Zetax's command continued to slay the opposing force of ArchAngels, sending the mighty beings plummeting to the ground in scattered heaps.  
Nearby, the white warrior looked on in tear-stained horror, utter frustration showing on his face. He knew that he could have saved her, he could have easily defeated Valerra had the Lord allowed. If anyone ever thought following God's instructions meant the cushy life, this proved otherwise in a dramatic way. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, deathly frustrated at the fact that he had to stand here and allow all this to happen.  
"Lord, please, I beg you; take your vengence now!" He pleaded in prayer. "Father, how much longer will you allow this??"  
He waited for several minutes after he prayed, expecting God to answer with thunder and lightning, to keep his promise, to smite the hoards of evil with the one He chose from amongst the Cyber Scouts. He watched the piles of rubble for minutes on end, waiting for a powerful surge of light from deep beneath the debris. None came. He waited further still, hoping at least to see something happen that would prove the Cyber Scouts alive. Nothing.  
  
In heaven, the Trinity looked down upon the events unfolding as Negaverse Cyborgs scattered into the streets and began plundering everything in sight and killing everything that got in their way. Nearby, kneeled before the throne of grace, stood the ArchAngel Michel. Michel, like the white warrior, could barely stand the images he was seeing from down upon the earth. He wanted to be able to do something, to have the Holy One command him to go down and smite the forces of darkness, destroying both Negaverse warrior and demon minion alike with his powers and mighty sword. He'd expected that by now the Godhead would have united in wrath upon the evil menace, sending down destruction like the earth had rarely ever known.  
Still, They waited. For several long minutes, They waited.  
Then the Father turned to the Spirit.  
He spoke only one word, one word that ignited Michel with hope.  
  
"Now."  
  
Chapter 31- Wrath  
  
The white-cloaked warrior had nearly given up when suddenly it happened. At first, he merely felt that something was happening, but moments later...  
Phalyn and Zetax also felt it, along with all their armies. Suddenly, hit through them like they had not known for two-thousand years.  
  
Suddenly, starting with a mere, almost invisible movement, then slowly getting stronger until rocks and debris began falling away to the bottom of the pile, something started trying to get out from under the pile of destruction that had fallen on Kevin and Zack. The 'Voice' looked on in stunned amazement; he'd though Jason would be the one! But now it was obvious that Jason was not the one the Lord had chosen to set things right. Which one was it, then?  
Out of nowhere, a little boy came rushing over to the pile, digging violently through the crushing pile of rocks and shattered cement. The warrior was struck by surprise again; he knew this boy! It was Serena's little brother, Sammy. What was he doing here??  
Valerra suddenly noticed what Sammy was doing. Teleporting nearby him, she walked right up to the little kid and gave him a shove.  
"Just what do you think you're doing, little boy? Shouldn't you be at home getting ready for school?"  
Sammy looked up at her in fear, his lower lip quivering and his arms shaking like rubber.  
Suddenly, Valerra heard a noise behind her. She spun to see Zack, scarred, bleeding, and badly beat up, emerging from under the rubble. Sammy took advantage of the moment, getting up and running away as Valerra turned to face the one surviving Cyber Scout.  
"How many times do I have to kill you? Honestly, it's getting boring." Valerra scoffed. "Out of curiosity, how *did* you survive that fall and with all that stuff piled on top of you?"  
"One word:" Zack stated. "God."  
"Oh, like I didn't see that one coming." She held up one finger at him. "I'd like to see your God save you now."  
Without warning, a sudden white brilliance erupted out of Zack's body, sending Valerra flying. She hit the ground hard, leaving a small dent in the pavement as the light faded. Suddenly, Zack held in his hands an incredible, glowing, pure heart crystal, it's light emanating out in a million brilliant colors. Zack got completely out of the rubble as Valerra got to her feet, mad as a wolverine.  
"You think you're pretty hot stuff, don'tya?" Valerra challenged, back flipping/flying through the air and landing on the top of the Starlight tower, back within Chaos as his power consumed her. "If Sailor Moon couldn't beat me, what chance do you have, twerp? Now I'll show you real power!"  
"Prepare to see the power of a heart purified in the all-consuming fire that *is* the presence of God eternal." Zack replied as ribbon's of white energy that appeared out of nowhere suddenly began to flow into Zack's crystal.  
  
"We've gotta get rid of that kid, before he can use that crystal!" Phalyn shouted, turning to his hoards of demons. "Attack him! Show no mercy! Do your worst!"  
Flocks of hell-bent demons swarmed straight at Zack, suddenly becoming physical beings blood-bent on destruction.  
"Not so fast!"  
Suddenly, Seti, Dareus, Kai, and Namor shoot into view, forming a tight wall around Zack as he prepared to use the crystal. The angels and demons lashed out at one another as suddenly Valerra and Zack unleashed the power of their crystals. The beams met in a fierce clash that kicked up a whirlwind all around.  
  
Zack saw as the black shadows suddenly appeared, saw as Valerra activated her crystal, and saw as at that moment the shadows vanished back into obscurity. An illusion meant to distract him? Even if so, he would not allow anything to prevent him from putting an end to Valerra's reign of terror. He focused hard as the beams from the two crystals met in a violent crash that sent debris all around them flying away from itself.  
Then he saw as Chaos itself went into action.  
  
"Push them back! Push them back!" Seti shouted in instruction, demon warriors on the verge of attacking Zack only a few feet away at best. She blasted through the swarm with a thick beam of light, but no sooner had the shadows in the beam's way been eradicated than the hole was suddenly filled up by more demons.  
"There's too many!" Namor shouted in response, hacking away at the wall of evil with his sword while guarding against black energy attacks left and right with demon swords slicing at him from all directions.  
Suddenly, the swarm of demons dove out of the way as huge, electric-like energy blasts from Chaos/Zetax tore straight at the angels. They tried to block, but there was no way their powers were enough to fight back this kind of attack. The blasts struck, eliminating all four angels at once.  
"Now I'll finish the kid myself!" Phalyn shot out of the hoard, red flames on his fists and destruction in his eyes as he aimed squarely for Zack.  
  
Zack saw as Chaos suddenly spat massive surges of electric-like black energy all around , somehow not hitting Zack in it's aim. The bolts of electricity bounced with small explosions off the beam of white light from Zack's pure heart crystal, barely missing as they got close enough to strike him out. He suddenly felt a pain in his chest as Valerra redoubled her efforts towards destroying him. The black beam slowly began to inch closer and closer to him.  
"No! I can't lose! Not now!" Zack pleaded out loud.  
He didn't see it at the moment, but a black shadow with flames around it's fists suddenly appeared and aimed a blast of flame-energy straight at him, aiming to broadside the young warrior.  
Then, a blast of invisible light tore open the night, utterly destroying the beam before it could so much as get close to Zack. Phalyn shielded his eyes as a figure invisible to the physical realm appeared, a figure who was the incarnation of righteous power. His garments shone like as if made of sunlight and his very presence radiated light, light so powerful and unyielding that Phalyn's forces had no choice but to flee as invisible white heat scorched their bodies. Phalyn screamed in horror.  
"No! You can't do this! No! No!!"  
But Phalyn was wrong, for the One who now stood majestically before him, flooding the city with intense spiritual light, was before, will be after, and is forever. The Spirit of whom it is said that the trail of His robe fills the full, holy temple of God in heaven, the One of whom it is said was hovering over the waters before God created all that exists, the one, perpetual, infallible, unending Holy Spirit of the Living God.  
The Spirit turned His head in Phalyn's direction and, with a thought, vaporized the demonic assassin. Demon's fled in utter horror away from the light of the perpetual Spirit of Truth as He turned His attention to the battle at hand in the physical realm. Placing His hand on Zack's shoulder, which suddenly caused Zack's pure heart crystal to surge with new power, the Spirit spoke.  
"I will be your strength, son of Adam."  
Even as the Spirit spoke, it became true. Invisible in the physical realm, Zack's body was suddenly surrounded by the Spirit's light as holy power flowed deep into Zack's crystal's core. Valerra gasped in utter horror as a new, powerful beam of light shot out of the heart crystal, cutting the other white beam away into oblivion, and pierced the black Nega-beam. Valerra tried to focus all her power into the CyberShadow Crystal, but by the time she tried it was already too late. The white beam cut through the darkness like as if it had a life of it's own, forcing itself into Chaos like a needle and striking Valerra squarely. Her body vaporized on contact, along with the CyberShadow Crystal, as the white beam suddenly exploded out in a million directions, penetrating Chaos like as if someone had suddenly unleashed a super nova inside the monstrous energy creature. Black clouds blasted off into obscurity as the beam further pierced Chaos's core, cutting into it with awesome power.  
In the spirit realm, Zetax's Chaos crystal suddenly shattered as in the physical Chaos appeared to be self-destructing. Zetax fell out of the cloud, hitting pavement with a massive thud as white energy still irradiated his body. The Spirit nodded, and suddenly the beam ceased and Zack fell, fainted, to the ground. The dark clouds above instantly began to clear as the sun pierced through, once more illuminating the world. The Spirit slowly walked over to where Zetax now lay, barely conscious and badly wounded.  
"You have been left alive, fallen angel, only because your purpose has not yet been completed. Know, though, that in the end the one I named Serena will defeat you, and you shall then be imprisoned until the final battle in the valley of Armageddon."   
"...You'll... never destroy... Lucifer..." Zetax spat, black blood coming out of his mouth and side. "We... shall control... Your precious humans... and then... we will rule in Your... place."  
"Satan I defeated two-thousand earth years ago, and you I have defeated once more today. Learn from the experience and perhaps one day repentance shall be yours."  
"...Never!..." Zetax spat in fury before suddenly vanishing in a flash of black flames.  
The Sprit then turned, looking out over the battlegrounds. Sudden hot white energy blasted off of him, causing the rubble to disappear and Jason and Kevin's bodies to be seen. A gentle white fog slowly appeared around them both as the Lord breathed new life into His children. They would lay here, resting, until His work here was complete.  
With Jason, Kevin, and Zack restored, only one thing remained here to be done. With the gentleness of a father, the Spirit walked over to where Serena lay. Taking her head under his right hand, he gently whispered to her.  
"My daughter... arise."  
He touched her forehead with His left hand, and suddenly new life flowed into her as well. The Silver Crystal's broken fragments glowed for a second, then began to reassemble and with a flash of light it was also restored. The Spirit turned to the destroyed moon scepter, and with a sudden flash it was as good as new. Putting Serena's head down gently and placing the Silver Crystal locket on her chest, He stood full up and gazed out at the city. In a loud voice He shouted:  
"Let all be as it was before, that only Jason, Kevin, Zack, Amara, Michelle, Hotaru, and Tristal, chosen warriors of the Lord on high, should remember any of what has occurred since the rise of the dark powers and the prophecy of the Stone of Balance!"  
As He instructed, so it was.  
  
Chapter 32- A Journey's End, A Quest's Beginning  
  
Serena woke up the next morning with a funny feeling. She couldn't quite explain it, and she couldn't remember ever having this feeling before. It wasn't a bad feeling, just strange...  
She brushed her hair and went about her regular morning routine. It was the weekend, and she would be meeting with Darien and the other Scouts for lunch at the park later in the day. She asked Luna about the weird feeling, but Luna wasn't very helpful at identifying a weird feeling unless you could describe it, which Serena presently couldn't. She shrugged it off as best she could as she half-tripped down the stairs towards the breakfast table, where she could smell the delicious flavor of her mom's homemade blueberry pancakes. She scarfed down a stack of pancakes with maple syrup and a pat of butter on top, then dashed out the door to the arcade.  
"Hey Serena, how ya doing?" Andrew smiled warmly as Serena walked in. She played a few games of 'Sailor V; Quest of the Spider Crystal' and 'Fast Track' before it was suddenly time to meet up with the other Scouts for the picnic. She almost fell out of her racing-game chair when she realized what time it was, then quickly got to her feet and dashed out of the arcade in a panicked rush.  
She got to the park just in time to be unfashionably late. Darien and the others, including Luna and Artemis, were already there and waiting for her. She rushed up to them, half out of breath as Rei muttered something under her breath about Serena always being so late.  
"Sorry I'm late! Save me any chocolate chip cookies?" She inquired, taking a seat next to Darien.  
"Yeah, I made more than enough." Lita said, offering her a plate of cookies, which Serena gladly accepted.  
"Hey, out of curiosity, did anyone else get a weird feeling when they woke up this morning?" Amy inquired.  
  
On a nearby rooftop, eight figures stood and watched as the picnic proceeded with little interruption and much conversation. Four were Sailor Scouts with incredible powers, three were Scouts of a different kind, and one was a warrior who appeared out of nowhere calling himself 'a voice'.  
"They don't remember anything." Amara observed.  
"That's the way it's supposed to be, for the time being. " The white figure stated.  
"And you say that everything is exactly as if the Sailor Scouts had never come in contact with Azurite, Alexis, Valerra, or the CyberShadow Crystal?" Michelle inquired.  
"Exactly. Even Azurite and Alexis don't remember ever having gotten their hands on the Darkshadow Crystal, and as for Valerra all that's left of her is her spaceship." He replied. "True, they still have the memories inside of them somewhere, but they won't remember what's happened until possibly some point during the second Silver Millennium. Even all the damage done to the city has somehow vanished; in short, everything's back to normal."  
"But how is all that possible? Some kind of shift in time?" Tristal inquired.  
"You could say that." The white warrior replied. "For the time being, the only threat to them is that of the arrival of the heart-snatchers sometime next month."  
"I guess then that all that's left is for us to return to the future." Hotaru stated, then turned to the Cyber Scouts. "Thanks for everything. I know we couldn't have stopped Valerra without you."  
Jason looked at Kevin, then at Zack, then back to Hotaru.  
"You're welcome. It was the least we could do."  
"In my opinion, you three did anything but your least out there." Tristal stated. "I'm surprised you were able to defeat both Chaos and Valerra; you're all definitely more powerful than I at first thought."  
"You did good." Amara stated, then turned and looked directly at Jason. "I owe you an apology, Jason. I suppose I underestimated your moral character and because of that said a lot of things I know I'll regret."  
"Uh,... apology accepted." Jason stated after a semi-surprised pause.  
"Don't think that means I'm gonna go all Christian now, though." She added, arms folded. "But I do owe you my apology for treating you like I did."  
"That's good enough for me." Jason stated, holding out his hand. Now it was Amara's turn to look semi-surprised. She shook it off in her mind and shook Jason's hand.  
"I think it's time we left." Tristal said, forming a blue and silver time portal nearby. She turned to Amara, Michelle, and Hotaru. "Ready to go?"  
"Yeah, let's go home." Hotaru smiled.  
The four Scouts walked towards the gateway and disappeared, the vortex closing behind them. Jason and the others turned once more to look down at the park below, observing that the Sailor Scout's picnic was still underway. Jason walked over to the edge of the building and leaned his shoulders on the cement barrier between the roof and the edge. He sighed sadly and looked at the picnic.  
"Will it have to be like this forever?" He inquired over his shoulder, then turned back to observe the picnic. "Will it always be that we only get a short time with the other Scouts and then their memories of us are erased and we have to fade off into obscurity?"  
"For a time, this is the way things must be." The white figure stated. "But not forever."  
"I know you want to be with Mina," He continued. "And I want you to know that your coming across each other and falling in love was indeed God-ordained. When the time is right, when events that have to happen to the Scouts without your being there are fulfilled, then and only then will your true destiny as Cyber Scouts be both revealed and fulfilled. Then, you can rejoin the Sailor Scouts for good."  
"I hope that day comes soon." Jason stated, then turned to the group. "So where do we go from here? Valerra is destroyed, along with the CyberShadow Crystal, Azurite and Alexis are no longer a threat, and we can't go rejoin the Sailor Scouts yet. Where do we go from here?"  
"I guess for starters we can't exactly call ourselves Cyber Scouts anymore, not with the Cyber Crystal destroyed and all." Zack stated.  
"Well, we can't go around calling ourselves the Pure Heart Crystal Scouts or something like that. Besides, we were Cyber Scouts before we even knew what the Cyber Crystal was called. I say we stick with it." Kevin replied  
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Zack admitted. "But, like Jason said, where *do* we go from here?"  
"May I make a suggestion?" The figure inquired.  
"Uh, I don't see why not." Jason stated.  
"Valerra's spaceship still remains in orbit around planet earth, unoccupied and presently unshielded. I know how badly you want to help the Sailor Scouts in the fight against the Negaverse," The figure stated, pausing dramatically. "So why not take the fight to the Negaverse? Buy the Scouts time and hold off the Negaverse's forces somewhat at the same time."  
"You mean go *into* the Negaverse?" Kevin exclaimed. "Time out here, guys! We'd be smothered, crushed like ants!"  
"I say we do it." Zack stated. "If God be fore us, who can be against us? It's time to do some damage!"  
"There's a big difference between fighting the good fight and stupidity-induced suicide." Kevin replied. "Hey, I'm all for kicking Nega-butt, but this sounds a little crazy. What happens when they decide to send everything they've got at us? Then what do we do?"  
"Valerra's ship *does* have a cloaking device." The white warrior stated. "And, since Valerra was a rogue amongst the armies of Negaforce, her ship doesn't have any tracking beacons or such on it with which the soldiers of the Negaverse could use to locate you. You should have no trouble doing hit-and-fade operations on their strongholds."  
"OK, now I'm in! I can't wait to get a look at that technology!" Kevin exclaimed. "It may be risky, but now at least our chances of survival are a little better."  
"That makes it unanimous." Jason stated, a semi-smile on his face. "We leave for Valerra's ship tomorrow morning, 10:30-ish. Meet at my house and then I'll try to figure out how to use Tasha's staff to get us up there."  
"And you wonder why we thought you should be the leader." Zack joked.  
"Good luck, Cyber Scouts. God's speed." The white-cloaked warrior stated, then suddenly faded into transparency, then invisibility. Kevin shuddered.  
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that. C'mon, let's go grab some pizza: it might be our last chance for who-knows-how-long."  
"I'm with ya there!" Zack stated, bounding from rooftop to rooftop just behind him.  
Jason was about to follow after them, then turned once more and looked down at the picnic.  
"As an old detective in an old movie once said, 'here's lookin' at you, Mina." He thought out loud. "I wish I could ask you to wait for me, but I understand that that would be impossible. I just hope you and I get the chance to meet again someday soon." He sighed, wishing that, like Darien, he had some kind of flower or something he could throw down to her. But his prayers would have to do for now. "Until we meet again, my love."  
With that, he leapt off after the others. Mina suddenly looked up at where he'd been standing seconds before, just in time to see his silhouette vanish off into the distance. Serena piped in suddenly, trying to figure out what Mina was looking at.  
"Hey, earth to Mina? What'ya looking at?" She inquired, half a cookie in her hand.  
"I, I thought I saw somebody up there... but that must just be my imagination." She smiled, returning to her plate of food as she and the others resumed normal conversation, completely, blissfully unaware of the events that had unfolded without their knowledge.  
  
Conclusion-  
  
Night slowly set upon the city of Tokyo, it's famed 'rising sun' settling down as the moon and it's stars began to take over the sky. The city was aglow with the colors of the sunset, blues and pinks and oranges cascading across the city's many buildings and skyscrapers. People within the city went about their usual business; some were grocery shopping, some at home, some still at work, some as tourists seeing the sights, there was a wedding in the nearby weeding hall and somewhere in the city a young girl was being proposed to by a young man. Elsewhere, a church service was being held with traditional hymns being played, another church elsewhere was conducting a funeral service, and yet another was on their knees praying as a congregation. There were birthday parties and anniversaries, school clubs meeting and study groups calling it a night, karate classes dismissing and parents being parents when their kids were late.  
They stood high above it all, standing on the very rooftop of the infamous Starlight tower that stood as the tallest building in Tokyo. Their white cloaks fluttered gently in the night winds as the sun set behind their backs. One of them, slightly taller, turned to the other.  
"How went your mission, my friend?"  
His Hebrew accent was thick and almost seemed ancient and mysterious, as did his companion's.  
"It went well, despite how badly things seemed to be going wrong at many points. The Lord never ceases to surprise me at the control He has over even the darkest situations."  
"We would be wise to remember that, my friend. He alone is God, there is none other like Him, and He is indeed the author and the finisher of faith itself regardless of circumstances."  
"I worry though for Jason, Kevin, and Zack. Will they be strong enough to face what awaits them in the Abyss universe?"  
"They are strong. The Lord will watch over them." He put his hand on his companion's shoulder. "Come, my friend, our next mission awaits us."  
  
(The End, for now...)  
  
I won't waste any more time on the usual list. You know it already. If you don't, check one of my previous Cyber Saga stories.  
— Now THAT'S a fanfic, huh Cyber Scout fans? I know that this one was a lot longer than my previous Cyber Saga releases, but it had to be that way for the effect it would have. If I chopped it up, we'd lose momentum and the story wouldn't be as good.  
Now, I know what you're thinking: 'this isn't the end? There's more Cyber Scouts fanfics out there? What is this guy, nuts??' Actually, I don't plan on releasing anymore Cyber Scouts fics for a long time. But what I do have in mind should both surprise and inspire you.  
I recently downloaded an RPG maker off the web, (don't worry, I've checked my sources and it's legit software,) and I hope to create a Cyber Scouts RPG in the near-to-not-so-near future. From what I've learned of the program so far, I can create stuff similar to the 'Sailor Moon; Another Story' RPG, if you've ever played it. If not, the closest things I can compare it to are Zelda and Pokemon, so use your imagination.  
But you know what I need first to really make this thing work??  
FANART! Cyber Scouts fanart would be majorly appreciated as artwork for the game. I plan to entitle it 'Cyber Scouts: Into the Negaverse' or something along those likes, so try to do fanarts accordingly. Suggested pics are along the lines of transformation sequence pics,(it would totally rule if somebody could make me an animated GIF, and size, of the Cyber Scout's transformation sequences, described in Cyber Scouts #s 1 and 2) scenes from the stories, Cyber Scouts in cool poses, even the villains and pics of small objects like the transformer wands or the swords would totally rule. Please, send your fanart to , and become a part of Cyber Scouts history! Your name'll be in the credits and everything, I swear it! If you aren't somebody who does fanart, but you know someone who does, I'd really appreciate it of you could ask them to help me out here with this little project; I promise that both you and your friend's names will be in the credits in that case. But whatever you can do to help along the lines of sending me fanart, please do! I'd majorly appreciate anything and everything you can do to help.  
Also, if you've enjoyed Cyber Scouts and Cyber Saga, why not send it to a friend? That's how God can *really* start to use this fanfic to make a difference in the world in which we live. Trust me, you can make a difference in your world just by sending this one fanfic series to any other, excuse the slang term here, 'Moon-heads' you know on your E-Mail address book and stuff. Believe me, the likes of Zetax and his crew *hate* this fanfic and will do everything they can to keep it from circulating, so shove a little insult into their face by handing off this fanfic to as many people as you can.  
Oh, and if you were wondering why Zack was the one who was chosen to defeat Valerra, take into account two objects of thought: Zack's Cyber powers get stronger when the Negaforce gets stronger, and in the CyberShadow prophecy it said that 'destiny will make the difference'. Zack is the Cyber Scout of destiny, therefore he was the only one who could defeat Valerra.  
Once more, and for the last time for a long time, this is Sailor/Cyber Revelation, AKA Ryan (da Edge) Edgerton, . . . signing off! --- 


End file.
